Police drain irrigation well in search of woman’s head

by Norman Palihawadana

Police sleuths probing the brutal killing of a woman, whose decapitated body was found inside a travelling bag at Dam Street in Pettah on Monday, have begun draining an irrigation well at Badalkumbura on suspicion that the police officer may have dumped the victim’s head there to prevent it from being traced, a senior police official said.

“We are using motors to pump out the water from the well”, he said.

However, the head of the woman has not been found so far, he added.

Police investigators who searched the sub inspector’s house at Badalkumbura discovered the ashes of what they suspect was a travelling bag set on fire by him in the backyard.

The policeman was captured on CCTV footage dumping a travelling bag with the woman’s decapitated body at Dam Street. Investigations revealed that he had brought the body in a private Colombo-bound bus from Hanwella.

The victim was identified as a 30-year-old resident of Theppanawa in Kuruwita. Her remains have been sent for DNA testing, police said.

The body of the 53-year-old suspect police officer later committed suicide by hanging himself. A phial of poison was recovered from the scene where his body was found hanging from a tree.

Police said the sub inspector was attached to the police station at Buttala. He was married, but was believed to have been involved in a relationship with the woman whose body was found in the travelling bag.

Meanwhile, opposition parliamentarian Harin Fernando, responding to social media reports that the police officer served in his security detail at one time, said that at the time served as a chief minister and later a minister of the former government, he was given a seven-member Ministerial Security Division squad. The policeman concerned, then a sergeant, was also member of the security contingent.

Later, the security detail, including this policeman, was withdrawn. Thereafter, the policeman had served under two other MPs – Navin Dissanayake and Hesha Withanage. Thereafter, he left the MSD and rejoined the regular police force and was transferred to Buttala, the MP said.

“There was no other connection between us apart from the fact that he served in my security contingent for three years. He has not even voted for me. I contested from the Badulla district, while he was from the Moneragala district”, Fernando said.