Married woman attempts to blackmail paramour

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

A married woman who allegedly helped rob a van worth Rs. 26 lakhs from her paramour after checking into a hotel at Katunayake was taken in for questioning by the Katunayake police following a complaint lodged by the paramour, on Thursday.

The woman was produced before the Negombo Magistrate and granted bail, Police Media Spokesman, SSP Prishantha Jayakody said.

The woman had cultivated a secret love affair following a meeting at a function some time ago. Her paramour, a businessman was residing at Wattala.

The couple checked into a hotel room at Katunayake on Wednesday to spend a quiet day. A few hours later others forcibly entered the room and took photographs of the nude couple to blackmail them.

According to the police, the blackmail had been masterminded by the woman to extort money from her paramour. The men who took the photographs had demanded Rs. 5 lakhs from the businessman to suppress the photographs being published in a tabloid magazine.

However, when he refused to pay them the amount they snatched the van keys and drove the vehicle away leaving the couple in the room. On the instructions of ASP Katunayake, N. Gurusinghe a police party led by Inspector A. Saman recovered the van which had been abandoned in Katunayake, police said.