Pamara abduction saga ends:

Chief suspect in the net

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Pamara Keshani

Ending another tragic period of agitation and suspense the chief suspect wanted in connection with the abduction of Pamara Keshani Bandara, who was at large was taken into custody by a special police team in Wellawa last evening within 24 hours of the rescue of the child.

Inspector Anura Gunawardena in charge of Wellawa Police station received an important message on Friday afternoon from the police divisional 119 unit. It was the message that not only him but many others were desperately waiting to hear.

Unscathed

The four-year-old Pamara who had been missing for almost four days was found in his police area. The OIC with his team rushes to the scene to find the little girl was remaining unscathed. Pamara was finally rescued.

Within weeks after the most shocking child abduction case reported in the history, the four-year-old Dinidu Yashen in Nikaweratiya, the people in Kurunegala could barely have a sigh of relief before they were stunned again with the story of another missing girl in the same district. Pamara Keshani was a cute and lovable child born to a family of five including her brother and sister. She was fondly adored by her parents and siblings.

She won not only the hearts of her family but her kith and kin as well as the neighbours and friends. Whoever who visits their house in Ambakolatenna in Ganewatta area would not forget to caress her for a moment. She was much loved by her seven-year-old brother who always cared for her and the one year old baby sister loved to be in her company. Pamara’s father was a retired soldier and was difficultly managing his family with his supportive wife Nishani Herath. They were not a well to do family and the means for living was to prepare string hoppers and sell to the boutiques and kiosks in the village.

Beaten by the hardships of life this loving family was living in a half built house which had not even been walled by bricks but covered with thick black polythene. Although this was not a solid form of security for a house they never dreamed of something drastic would happen to their family. That somebody would cut open the polythene wall and steal their daughter in middle of the night. But that’s what happened in this blood-curdling series of events for Pamara’s parents.

Pamara always slept next to her brother on a different bed. Her parents with the baby sister slept on another bed in the close quarters. As usual they went to sleep around 9.30 pm on Monday night (08) to wake up around 2.00 o’clock by the cry of the elder boy. The boy who woke up in the dead of night noticed two things, firstly the room being strangely lit by rays of light coming through the walls and secondly the sister who was sleeping next to him was missing.

Hearing the boy’s cry that the sister is not in the bed, the parents quickly rose to their feet to look for their daughter. To their utter dismay the polythene wall has been cut open near the children’s bed and Pamara was not to be found in the house. When they tried to move out through the main door it had been locked from outside and the key was missing. Shivering with fear and suspense the parents come out of the house through the hole in the wall and desperately start to search for their daughter in the compound. With no sense of relief they cried for help.

The neighbours rushed to Bandara’s house hearing this anguish and started searching for the girl and some have already informed the Wellawa Police about this unfortunate incident. A team from Wellawa Police immediately arrive at the scene and recorded statements from the parents as to understand what exactly happened that night. Simultaneously they informed the station to deploy additional officers on main roads running across the area. Radio messages were swiftly sent to Kurunegala Divisional Police Headquarters Operations Room where the senior officers of the district were informed.

Gruesome

OIC Gunawardena informs his superior ASP who notify SSP Kurunegala Division Ajantha Samarakoon and DIG Kurunegala District Sarath Kumara. The message has been passed on to Senior DIG North Western Province Jagath Abeysirigunawardena who doesn’t hesitate to tell IGP N K Illangakoon about this gruesome incident. With fresh experience in hand on how to react in an event of an abduction the police chief orders to summon ample amount of policemen in the district to Ambakolatenna to find the child. Then he orders DIG Criminal Investigation Department Ravi Seneviratne and Director SSP D R L Ranaweera to deploy a team immediately.

The CID team who undertook and rescued Dinidu Yashen in August was sent to Wellawa on Tuesday morning who commence their back ground research by recording statements from various people including the parents and neighbours. They learn that the family was constantly visited by an exorcist from Navalapitiya who had helped them to ward off some evil force believed to have settled in the compound. He was also known to be fond of their children and especially the missing girl. The detectives summoned the exorcist who was interrogated for hours to learn nothing important. Although he does not seemed to have connected to the case they could not let him go without having some credible information leading to the missing child.

Sniffer dog Dover attached to Kurunegala Police Canine Division was brought to the scene by its master Sergeant Weerage (29109) to pick up any clues. The police found a pair of scissors used to cut the polythene hidden in the roof of the house and the key to the main door was found outside the compound.

They also found a nightdress of to Nishani hanging on a clothesline outside the house had been torn by the suspect giving the notion that he was perhaps suffering from an unusual mental disorder.

Also two separate incidents reported in the same area of failed attempt to abduct a six-year-old girl by an unidentified man and an intruder hiding under the bed of another house spread panic among the people that this must be part of a serial abduction by a maniac. In the failed abduction case the intruder had entered the house by cutting open a polythene sheet used to cover a semi constructed house.

In the meantime wide publicity was seen given to the incident by both print and electronic media who conveyed the announcement that the Police Department is willing to pay a reward of Rs.1 million to any successful information leading to the whereabouts of the girl.

A large contingent of over 200 policemen were deployed in a major manhunt in the surrounding forest areas and remote locations.

Helpless parents

This went on for about four days with an unceasing agony for the helpless parents who wept through out day and night asking for their baby.

Inspector Gunawardena who did not waste a second after hearing the message about Pamara was relieved to find her unharmed but in a confused state of mind.

The girl had been found at a house in Neriyawa area near Kuveni Gala in Wellawa not more than nine kilometres from her house. The message has been given to the Police 119 Emergency Unit by a boutique owner near the house where the girl was found.

The police arrested a young man and his mother living in the house and learnt that the man's brother had fled the area, who is reportedly committed the abduction.

The suspect by the name of Gamini was living with her mother and his elder brother was living separate.

The suspect had reportedly brought the little girl to the house on Friday morning and had hid her under a pile of woods resting on a rack inside one of the rooms.

He had warned her mother to keep her mouth shut about the girl and left the house to fetch something. The middle aged woman out of compassion had feed the child with milk rice. That moment the suspect's elder brother had visited the house and seeing the girl got a shock as she was the missing child which the pictures were published in the newspapers.

He demanded his mother to release the girl immediately and inform the police but was unable to do so as his sibling stormed in opposing.

The suspect in fury had tried to attack his brother with a knife but the latter had managed to chase the former away by beating him with a wooden bar.

He had then taken the child to a nearby boutique where the owner had a telephone, to inform the police.

The police backed by Special Task Force were engaged in the search of the absconding suspect who was believed to have entered to a forest near Kuveni Gala.

The suspect was found to be a person with disturbed sense of mind inclined towards harassing young women and teenagers.

He was living separate from his marriage and was once remanded for molesting a 14-year-old schoolgirl about three years ago.

The suspect had reportedly taken the schoolgirl by force and tied her to a bed before allegedly raping her.

Although there were speculations that the child was abducted to offer as a human sacrifice to obtain an ancient buried treasure, it is yet to be ascertained the motive of the act.

But it was positive since the beginning that the abduction was not in seek of ransom like Dinidu Yashen's case, as the parent's of Pamara were stricken with poverty.

Soon after the rescue Pamara was sent to Kurunegala Hospital where Judicial Medical Officer examined her condition.

According to police she was initially found to be suffering from state of confusion but had never cried asking for her parents.

It is believed that the suspect had kept her outdoor for sometime and had fed her with biscuits from time to time.

Pamara was finally handed over to her parents while investigations are being continued by the police who will detained the suspect for interrogation.