by Suresh Perera

Police investigators are pursuing some important leads to figure out the circumstances which led to the death of the Dutch monk at the Dodanduwa Polgasduwa forest monastery, a high-ranking police official in the region said on Friday.

“Though preliminary investigations suggest the possibility of suicide, we are working on some vital clues to clear some doubts that have emerged”, says Senior DIG Rohan Silva in charge of the Southern province.

“We are probing the case with an open mind”, he noted, while declining to divulge more information on the leads police sleuths are chasing as it will hamper ongoing investigations.

The body of Ven. Olande Jinawansa thera was found floating in the Ratgama lagoon on December 8. At the time the body was fished out, two stones were found tied to the 59-year-old monk’s legs.

The police and the STF searched the island, where the monastery is situated, plus an adjoining island, but nothing suspicious was found, the senior police official said.

Asked about social media reports that the monk had opposed the construction of a hotel in a near-by island as it disturbed the serenity of the monastery, and this may have led to his untimely death, he explained that there was no such hotel being built in the locality.

The Dutch monk was, however, not in favor of a Dharma Salawa that was being built within the precincts of the monastery as he believed there was no need for such a facility as devotees in large numbers did not visit the Aramaya, the senior DIG Silva said.

“He had protested that the din caused by the construction disturbed the meditating monks. Apart from that, there was no hotel being built in the vicinity for the bhikku to have opposed it”, he added.

Earlier, there was a move to build a bridge to link the island but the idea was dropped as it didn’t find favor with the monks at the monastery, he further said.

“We also inspected the monk’s kutiya (small hut), where he meditated, but there was nothing amiss”, he continued.

The Government Analyst visited the scene and also examined the knots on the rope with which the stones were found tied to the monk’s legs.

The autopsy revealed that there was no water or sand in the prelate’s lungs, which indicated that he had been alive at the time he was in the lagoon. This raised the possibility of the monk taking his own life, he said.

An open verdict was returned at the magisterial inquiry into his death.

Senior DIG Silva said that body parts have been sent to the Government Analyst for examination to ascertain, amongst other factors, whether the monk was poisoned.

He said the Dutch monk, who settled in Sri Lanka 12 years ago, was basically a loner. He kept to himself and went on pindapatha alone. As a lover of animals, he set aside a part of the alms he received to feed them. He even reared a young injured animal in his Kutiya.

Asked whether any arrests have been made or are imminent, the senior police official replied, “it depends on the outcome of the continuing investigations. We need to clear some existing doubts surrounding the prelate’s death”.

Meanwhile, a close associate, who now lives in New Zealand, said the Dutch monk was residing in northern Thailand and left for Sri Lanka in 2008.

“I was very close to Ven. Tone Jinawamso thera, as he was known there”, he said.

Requesting anonymity, he told The Sunday Island from Auckland that as a well established monk, who had even translated a Thai Buddhist publication into English, he didn’t see any reason why the prelate should commit suicide.

“As a bhikku very close to me, I can assure you that he was content with the simple, uncomplicated life he led and would have never contemplated suicide”, he asserted.

The Dutch monk’s death is suspicious, he claimed. “The police should get to the bottom of it”.