Magistrate orders CID to hand back remains of Dinesh Schaffter to his family

By A.J.A. Abeynayake

Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday ordered the CID to hand over the remains of the late businessman Dinesh Schaffter to his family as postmortem examinations had been concluded.

The order was issued when the report of a magisterial inquiry on the remains of Schaffter’s exhumed body was taken up before the Colombo Magistrate Court yesterday.

Additional Magistrate Jayasuriya said that a five-member expert committee, headed by Prof. Asela Mendis, appointed by the court to submit a report on Schaffter’s death, had informed the court that their judicial investigations had been completed and therefore the remains of the late businessman could be released.

Accordingly, the Additional Magistrate ordered the CID to hand over the body to his family under the supervision of Prof. Clifford Perera and Judicial Medical Officer P.R. Ruwanpura. The remains of Schaffter are to be handed over to his brother Ramesh Schaffter and brother-in-law James Mathews.

The case was also ordered to be recalled on 09 October, 2023.

The remains of Schaffter, whose death remains largely unsolved, were exhumed on 25 May, 2023, under judicial supervision and armed security, on the orders of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.

The former Janashakthi Group of Companies Director was found tied up in his car at the General Cemetery, in Borella, on 15 December, 2022, and died a day later while receiving treatment at the ICU of the National Hospital in Colombo.