Police Sergeant's mystery death bared

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

The mystery that surrounded the death of the police sergeant, whose body was found near a wall in an abandoned plot of land adjacent to a stream at Gothatuwa last Monday was solved with the arrest of a young man and three other key suspects who were allegedly linked to the murder.

A resident of Gothatuwa having noticed the body of a man lying on the ground informed the Wellampitiya police who launched a manhunt for the killers. This was a sequel to conflicting TV reports that some policemen were involved in the murder. The Police Media Spokesman SP, Prishantha Jayakody told the Sunday Observer that such reports were false.

Police identified the deceased as Police Sergeant Lasantha Sudath Priyadharshana (46) of the Pannala police station. Married to a school teacher he was a father of one child. The family resided at Giriulla. The policeman reported for work at the Pannala police station as usual on August 1 and completed his duty around 4.30 p.m. on the same day.

Thereafter, he telephoned a policeman saying that he was proceeding to Colombo to attend to some official work. That was the last mission in Colombo that they heard of the Police Sergeant Lasantha Sudath Priyadharshana. Nobody knew exactly what his mission was in Colombo. He was so secretive that he had not even disclosed it to his wife. He succumbed to his injuries following several stab injuries on his body. The post mortem examination carried out by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) revealed that there were 27 stab wounds on his body.

A team of policemen from the Wellampitiya Crime Branch were soon on the trail of the killers following clues they gathered from the scene of the crime. Several ideas crossed the minds of these crime busters who had years of experience in solving complex murder cases.

Was the policeman killed elsewhere and his body brought to Wellampitiya? Or was he stabbed to death at Wellampitiya over a quarrel with someone? What was the motive of the killers? Policemen gathered vital clues following the discovery of a cellular mobile phone in the trouser pocket of the deceased.

There were several numbers recorded in the cellular mobile phone. The deceased policeman had communicated with several persons prior to his death. The disclosure shed light on the mysterious killing that eventually led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man and three other co- suspects linked to the killing.

Intimate connections

By this time the investigators learnt of the intimate connections the deceased policeman had cultivated with a 24-year-old man. It became apparent that the deceased policeman had a homosexual relationship with the 24-year-old youth who ultimately turned killer.

The two had met on previous occasions where they had checked into motels and guest houses. On August 1 they had even checked into a hotel in the Wellampitiya area. The policeman was apparently killed following a dispute he had with his 24-year-old companion after checking out from a hotel. "He was stabbed to death because he failed to pay a sum of money he had promised the young man," police sources said.

Meanwhile, police are trying to ascertain whether the three co-suspects, including three-wheeler drivers had also been involved in stabbing the policeman. At the time of filing the story it was unclear where the policeman was stabbed and whether the body was transported in a three- wheeler to Wellampitiya. Police recovered the blood stained clothes the young man had worn on the day of the incident. "We will move for a DNA test after obtaining a court order," police sources said.

According to a spokesman for the Pannala police, the deceased policeman was a conscientious officer. He had no enemies and nobody had the foggiest idea that he would be killed in this manner. His wife is in a state of shock following the killing.

Almost a decade ago the Sunday Observer reported a similar incident where a former ambassador and a wealthy businessman who lived in a mansion at Vajira Road, Bambalapitiya was strangled to death by a young man who had spent a night with him at his residence. Police launched a

manhunt for the killer following the incident which made headlines in newspapers. After a thorough investigation, police tracked the killer who was living in the suburbs of Colombo. The suspect confessed to the killing. He told the police that he strangled the businessmen to death with a rope after indulging in sex that night.