Kingpin of crime disappears in broad daylight :

Has the Godfather of the Mafia gone beneath?

Sunday Crime by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

Nawala Nihal was nicknamed as the Godfather of the Mafia because he was a ruthless killer and an extortionist who began his career nearly three decades ago. He was the most feared and dreaded man in the Western Province and elsewhere by ordinary citizens and the underworld alike.

He was the kingpin as far as big time crime was concerned. He had more enemies than friends owing to his involvement in rackets and slayings over the years, police say.

Nawala Nihal, having spent a considerable number of years in jail was released about three months ago. Soon after his release he went to live at his residence at Nawala. His wife and his son is said to be living in Italy according to police.

As there were several criminal cases pending against Nihal, his presence was required in court very often. Therefore he had to attend courts on a regular basis to avoid warrants being issued by the courts for his arrest.

Threat

On April 29, Nihal had to attend a criminal case at Hulftsdorp. He was one of the accused in the case, along with some others. Being out of prison, he knew there was a real threat to his life from his adversaries. They were all out for his blood. He never took a chance, and never went anywhere without an escort. He decided to attend courts that day at Hulftsdorp with three of his trusted buddies.

He summoned them to his home at Nawala and gave them explicit instructions to accompany him to Hulftsdorp. He then went over to a neighbour's house and borrowed her vehicle to proceed to Hulftsdorp. After attending courts Nihal decided to do a bit of shopping at Narahenpita before returning home.

The time was round 2.30 p.m. He was on his way home along Narahenpita-Nawala road, when, suddenly a vehicle driven at excessive speed appeared from nowhere and having overtaken their vehicle, blocked Nihal's vehicle, across the road.

Thereafter, several men armed with weapons had alighted from the vehicle and ordered Nawala Nihal and his three henchmen to get into their vehicle. Soon they drove off in the direction of Nugegoda and disappeared.

OIC Crimes Welikade Police, Sub-Inspector Marasinghe, said the neighbour who lent her vehicle to Nihal lodged a complaint on the following day that Nihal was missing along with her vehicle. By this time the Narahenpita police had found the vehicle abandoned on the spot where Nihal and his men were abducted. However there is no trace of Nihal and his three buddies he said.

Vicious criminal

Colombo Crime Division's (CCD) Director, SSP, Sarath Lugoda, said that Nihal was a vicious criminal involved in several murders and extortion rackets over the years. He was responsible for stabbing to death a man who ran a Rent-a-Car service in December 2005 over a quarrel.

Thereafter he even threatened the family members of the victim to have a low key funeral and not to talk about it.He once invited a landlord from Nawala to his house and beat him up severely.

He then threatened to kill him if he did not transfer the deed of his house and property in his name. Fearing for his life the man migrated to Italy with his family. Nihal was involved in the death of a Police Constable whose body was found floating in a lake in the suburbs of Colombo.

The Police Constable had apparently opened fire and killed one of Nihal's relatives when the former tried to snatch his rifle at Galle Face, under the influence of liquor, a few years back.

Police say that people feared Nawala Nihal so much that he even summoned his opponents to Welikade remand prison and admonished them severely when they crossed his path. The former DIG Police (CID) Tyrell Gunatilleke was nearly beaten to death by the henchmen of Nihal when he complained to authorities about Nihal's involvements in forged deeds regarding the land adjacent to his residence at Nawala.

He miraculously escaped death after being in hospital for several months. The underworld men, then robbed DIG Gunatilleka's camera after assaulting him. Nihal's career in the crime world stretches back to 1976 when he was involved in a robbery of Rs. 13,000 in cash from a petrol shed.

In 1994, he was involved in the death of one Kamani Malkanthi Wijesooriya. In 1997 he was charged for possessing an unlicensed pistol. In 1998 he was charged for extortion and wrongful restraint of a person.

The Colombo Crime Division arrested him in 2005 when he was involved in an extortion racket where he demanded Rs 150 lakhs from a businessman in the Pettah area. Nihal was also involved in the gruesome killing of the underworld figure, Kalu Ajith and two of his henchmen at Athidiya a couple of years ago.

Police found the charred bodies of the three men inside a Hiace van abandoned at Athidiya. Police say that people were frightened to testify against Nihal fearing his vengeance.

At the time of writing the story the police have not arrested anyone linked to the abduction of Nihal and the three men. Police said their whereabouts are not known still. The big question is who could have abducted such a feared man in the calibre of Nawala Nihal?

OIC Welikade Police Chief Inspector Sagara Liyanage and OIC Crimes, Sub Inspector Marasinghe are conducting investigations into the abduction.