Theft from ATM leads to killing

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

With the end of terrorism and peace dawning in the northern province after a lapse of three decades, the few bunkers that were erected during the height of the war against terrorism, still remains in the north.

The bunker at Ariyala is guarded by army personnel as it is in close proximity to the 512 army brigade. The few brigades that remain in the northern province are now engaged in a humanitarian operation of re-settling displaced persons.

The bunker at Ariyala is manned by three army soldiers who keep a vigil around the clock taking turns. When two soldiers keep a watchful eye the other soldier rest until he is called upon for duty.

A horrific thing happened just outside the bunker at Ariyala a fortnight ago. A soldier from the Ariyala 512 brigade committed suicide by shooting himself with an automatic firearm.

A note was found in his uniform giving the reason for taking his own life. In the note he had stated that he had stolen a colleague's ATM number and had withdrawn Rs 18,000 without his knowledge.

He committed suicide because of the shame. Tension prevailed among the rank and file of soldiers in Jaffna following the incident. Some began to question the validity of the suicide of their colleague. Many had reservations about it and expressed their anger quite openly.

However, when emotions cooled, tongues began to wag openly in the army detachment. Senior officers began to suspect that something was in the air following rumours of foul play. They launched an investigation into the death of the soldier.

The deceased soldier was identified as D.M.A. Gunesekera, a native of Weligama. He was attached to an army detachment at Ariyala. The Military Police then began an extensive investigation into the incident. When evidence began to surface that foul play was involved, they summoned the Jaffna Police to take over investigations of the alleged suicide incident.

Supervision

A team of police officers under the supervision of Head Quarters Inspector (HQI) of Jaffna police station, Chief Inspector Saman Sigera and OIC Crimes Jaffna police station Chief Inspector Diyakelinawela began an exhaustive investigation into the suicide case. Police began questioning several soldiers at the Ariyala army camp regarding the suicide of the soldier.

Incriminating evidence began to surface gradually. In the course of investigations police came to know that soldiers who wanted to withdraw money from the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) rarely went to the bank.

Instead the common practice they adopted was to hand over the ATM cards along with secret numbers to a trusted colleague who withdrew money on their behalf. It was on May 25 that a soldier Chanaka Crishantha told a colleague to withdraw money on his behalf from his bank account at the Bank of Ceylon Branch.

He then handed over his ATM card and gave the secret number of the account. In the meantime, soldier Wijesinghe who was also in the camp at that time overheard the secret code being mentioned. He kept a mental note of that number and later stole Chanaka Crishantha's ATM card from his backpack.

Thereafter he proceeded to the Bank of Ceylon branch in Jaffna and withdrew a sum of Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 on two different occasions. Having fraudulently withdrawn the money, he replaced the ATM card on the backpack of Chanaka Crishantha and pretended not to know anything about it.

A few days later, Chanaka Crishantha went to the bank to withdraw money from the ATM. He was surprised to learn that there wasn't any money left in his account. Someone had pilfered money from his account.

He told his colleagues at the Ariyala army camp what had happened. When the matter was brought to the notice of a senior army Sergeant, he began questioning the soldiers at the camp. He warned them that the suspect who stole money from Chanaka Crishantha's account had been found from the video footage.

Fraud

When soldier Wijesinghe heard the sergeant speaking to them about the fraud he was alarmed and scared that he would be arrested by the police soon. To cover up his tracks he mapped out a plan to extricate himself from trouble. He wrote a suicide note purported to have been written by soldier Gunesekera.

The note implied that Gunesekera committed suicide because he stole Rs 18,000 from Chanaka Chrishatha's bank account. Soldier Wijesinghe knew that he was detailed for duty at the Ariyala bunker along with soldier Gunesekera on the following day. Soldier Wijesinghe's duty turn that night was from 2.am. to 4.am while Gunesekera's turn was from am 4 am to 6am. While Gunesekera was resting in the bunker Wijesinghe approached him and surreptitiously inserted the suicide note in his trouser pocket.

He thereafter tied a string to the trigger of the T-56 weapon that he was carrying with him. When his duty turn was over he woke up Gunesekera around 4.am. and handed over the loaded T-56 weapon to him. Gunesekera however did not notice that the T-56 weapon was loaded and a string was attached to the trigger.

Wijesinghe meanwhile pretended that he was resting in the bunker. Gunesekera who had a habit of chewing betel whilst on duty. He invited Wijesinghe to join him. Wijesinghe then joined Gunesekera just outside the bunker who had a loaded T-56 rifle slung across his back.

When Wijesinghe turned his back on him he approached him and pulled the string that activated the T-56 weapon. Several shots which rang from the T- 56 weapon killed Gunesekera on the spot.

Although it appeared to be a suicide, police were able to unravel the intricate plot. "It was pre-meditated murder and well executed. The suspect a resident of Badulla has been remanded," police said. SSP Jaffna Division K.P.M. Padmadeva is directing further investigations.