By Norman Palihawadana

Police have begun checking CCTV footage in other areas to find out where the policeman had thrown the head of the woman he decapitated and also whether any others had helped him to carry out the grisly killing at Hanwella, police officials said.

The headless body of the woman was found inside a travelling bag at Dam Street.

“We are scouring CCTV images in certain strategic locations to gather more information on the movements of the sub inspector implicated in the killing of the woman at a guest house in Hanwella”, they said.

Meanwhile, the funeral of the woman identified as Dilini Yasodha Jayasundara took place at the Theppanawa public cemetery at Kuruwita on March 10.

The victim’s body was released following identification after her DNA matched samples taken from her mother and brother.

Her body was placed in the police morgue until Additional Government Analyst, D. H. L. W. Jayamanne completed the DNA examination. Thereafter, the body was handed over to her relatives on the night of March 9 to be taken to her hometown of Theppanawa in Kuruwita.

Thirty-year-old Thilini Yasodhara was unmarried and lived with her mother, who was a person with special needs, a brother, who was a local politician and an elderly female relative. Her father had died many years ago.

She was not employed and devoted most of her time to painting and social work. She had developed a love affair with the police officer at the time she did some temporary work in the political office of parliamentarian Heshan Vithana. The policemen, S. M. Premasiri (52), a sergeant at the time, served in the security contingent of the MP.

The romance had continued despite the transfer of her partner to serve as a security officer to then Minister Harin Fernando. Subsequently, the policeman was transferred to Buttala police station, close to his hometown of Badalkumbura, where he received a promotion and served as a sub inspector.

Police believe that the suspect policeman may have killed the woman after she continued to insist that they get married. Perhaps, she was unaware that he was a married man with two children.

He had killed the woman inside a guest house room at Hanwella, which the couple had occupied overnight. A woman employee of the guest house had seen him leaving with a travelling bag the previous morning and thought his companion may have left earlier.

Police said that thanks to CCTV footage, they were able to retrace his journey from Hanwella to Colombo in a private bus and later dumping the bag at Dam Street. The decapitated body of the woman was later found by police on being alerted by traders in the vicinity.

A day after the gruesome find in Pettah, a bag belonging to the woman was found at Hanwella. An identity card from a youth camp and an address in Kuruwita were among the contents.

Police investigators were also able to trace the guest house the couple had booked into on the evening of February 28, the day before the woman’s body was found in Pettah. The visitors’ book had revealed Premasiri’s identity and the area he lived in.

When the police closed in on him, Premasiri had escaped to a jungle area near his house at Badalkumbura and committed suicide. His body was later found hanging from a tree. A bottle of poison was also found nearby.

In a suicide note, he had apologized to his wife and two children for the shame over what happened and urged them to be brave and face the future despite whatever obstacles they would have to face He had also asked his family to go ahead with the preparations for his mother’s alms-giving.