'Grero' unravels mystery

by Ananda Agalakada and Priyadarshani Kahawala - Ingiriya Central Group Corr.

The first precept in Buddhism stresses to refrain from killing however rate of homicides are reported daily in our country on an unprecedented scale today. People wake up in the morning with some awful news about gruesome killings from point-Pedro to Dondra.

It is difficult even for law enforcement units to apprehend culprits for these assassinations. Folklove has it that pandupul asanaya of God Sakra heats up when the worst happens to people on earth. Now one could argue that by now the pandupul asanaya would have perished due to the crime wave in the world.

Children, youth and the elderly are victims of murder. In this backdrop the news of the slaying of a ninety six-year-old man and an eighty five-year-old woman a husband and wife and their son who was sixty two-years from Bulathsinhala were killed by gangsters after strangling them with a piece of wire. The gangsters had beaten the victims unmercifully with several objects. M.A. Fernando, M. Magilin and H. Dharmsiri of the same family succumbed to the brutal injuries caused by the thieves.

According to residents in the area, M.A. Fernando had recently sold a block of the land in the vicinity. The gangsters had come to know about the sale and may have planned to rob the money obtained after selling the land. The police suspect the murder would have been committed by a person known to the victims.

Occupants say the robbers had studied the place before they entered the residence. Because a wedding ceremony had been held in a nearby house on the same night and the murderers knew that neighbours would attend the function at the wedding house at that time.

The victims’ necks were tied with ropes and wires. The robbers had used a wire of the electric heater to kill the older man who was 96 years. They also covered the man’s head with a bag before killing him.

As the residents revealed the old man was very weak so he could not walk. The residents are still suffering from the effects of the pathetic incident and could not believe that these innocent people were killed. Twelve-year-old W.D. Pubudu Madusanka who was a neighbour explained what he had seen. “Around 6.30 in the morning, I came to the garden to collect some alocasia (habarala) to feed the fish which in my tank, at that time I heard sounds of groaning from inside the victims’ house. I rushed to my father and told him something had happened there. My father came to the scene of the crime with another neighbour to see what had really happened. W. Wijesundara, another neighbour said, when we went to the victims’ house, the doors were unlocked at that time. We opened the doors and entered the house. we could not believe what had happened there. The deceased lay on the floor and were bleeding. We then informed the police.

The Chief incumbent of Sri Sudharma Wardanarama temple in Bulathsinhala Ven, Kosgoda Siridhamma thera said that M.A. Fernando was a former estate conductor by profession. They had settled down in this village 20-25 years ago. As I know these people associated with the neighbours and were friendly and peaceful. They had never had problems with other people at any time. They had another son, he was the youngest in the family had died a few years ago. He has performed in some teledramas. I cannot imagine the reason or who was responsible for these horrible murders, Ven. Siridhamma thera said.

Grero, a police dog belonging to the Horana police was brought to follow a trail picked up from a part of some of the tools which were used by the criminals. With the assistance of Grero the police searched nearby house they arrested two men on suspicion. Both suspects were 30 and 32- year-old residents of the same area.

The Mathugama Additional Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura conducted the investigation and gave an open verdict. The bodies were sent to the Nagoda Hospital for the post-mortem. Bulathsinhala police are further investigating.