Mysterious death solved after eight years

The three wheeler driver, Kaluwa lost his job almost six years ago when the owner of the vehicle disposed it off for reasons best known to him. He probably suspected that the driver was involved in petty criminal acts in the area and moreover he wasn’t reliable. As he was unable to find employment elsewhere as a driver he became a labourer at the Sirisoma quarry in his village.

Stolen goods

He had little or no choice but to accept the tough job on a meagre pay. He was fully aware that he had to labour long hours in the quarry to eke out a living. However, he took up the job and used it as a cover to commit criminal acts.

The man had a propensity for crime. As a young man he resorted to petty thefts and years later earned notoriety for burglary. He had been involved in criminal acts for some time although a few knew about it. His modus operandi was house-breaking and he had a knack for it.

It bought him easy money to enjoy the good things in life. Being a three-wheeler driver he moved with criminals in the Gampola town who purchased stolen property.

This made things easier for him to dispose off his stolen goods. During the past eight years several house-breaking and theft cases were reported from the Gampola area but the police did not have the faintest clue.

They could not apprehend the man who was involved in several house-breaking and other serious crimes in the area. Although the police solved a few housebreaking cases, a large number of them remained unsolved.

On the instructions of SSP, Gampola Police Division, Roshan Fernando, a manhunt was launched to arrest the culprit involved in several house-breaking cases in the Gampola area.

The Headquarters Inspector (HQI) of Gampola, Chief Inspector Jaliya Heenkende assigned OIC Crimes, Anura Silva and his team of police officers from the Crime Branch to investigate the unsolved house-breaking cases. A large number of files pertaining to cases remained piled on the HQI’s table.

Kaluwa arrested

The breakthrough came when the HQI was tipped off by an informant, that a man who worked at a quarry nearby was linked to several house-breaking cases in the area. The information was promptly passed on to Chief Inspector Anura Silva to track down the suspect.

A police party from the Gampola Crime branch lay in ambush and arrested the suspect Kaluwa, a resident of the Sevenaka Colony in the Gampola area. He was grilled by the police for several hours regarding crimes which he had committed in the past. The suspect broke down and confessed to his involvement in a string of house-breaking and theft cases and a gruesome murder that he had committed eight years ago.

Confession

This revelation shed light on the mysterious murder of a Bank employee, Lionel Sarath Kumara Perera (47), a father of two children. His body was found by villagers near a quarry at Navadevita on the Gampola-Galaha road the following morning.

The police along with the Magistrate visited the scene and recorded all evidence.

Later, the JMO who conducted the autopsy returned an open verdict. Years passed by, but the police could not unravel the mysterious murder. “Perhaps, the police had lost interest in the case due to frequent transfers of policemen to the North and the East during the conflict in the country. This may have hampered investigations, a senior police officer told the Sunday Observer.

The three-wheeler driver confessed to the police that on the day of the incident Sarath Kumara Perera, a bank employee had hired his three-wheeler from the Gampola town to return home to Atabage.

He said that the victim had been under the influence of liquor and told him that he had applied for a Rs.100,000 loan from the bank.

While proceeding towards Atabage on December 12, 2002 past 11.00 p.m. the driver brought the three-wheeler to a halt at Galwala Navadevita. He had then tied a shopping bag on the victim's neck and strangled him until he collapsed in the three wheeler. He then pillaged the man’s bag and searched his trouser pocket for the Rs.100,000 but was surprised to find only Rs.250 in his wallet.

Unable to comprehend what he had done he pushed the body on to the road and drove off in the three-wheeler.

The driver also told the police that he assumed that Sarath Kumara had been carrying a lot of money home and he strangled him to death to rob the money.

The deceased had been an employee of the Bank of Ceylon for over two decades. He was attached to the Bank of Ceylon headquarters in Colombo during the latter part of his job. He travelled to work daily from his residence.

As he did not return home that night, his son, Anuruddha Perera made a complaint at the Gampola police station regarding his father’s absence.

However, the following day the police found his strangled body dumped on the road near Atabage.

The suspect told the police that on the following morning while he was on his way to the Gampola town in his three-wheeler he witnessed a large crowd which had gathered near the corpse but drove off due to his guilt and fear.

After eight years police unearthed evidence relating to a serious crime committed by a suspect, due to painstaking investigations.