News
Talk of Rs. 10 million marriage dowry prompts kidnap plan
A 32 year old resident of Galgamuwa was among a group that went looking for a bride for a friend.
At the would be wife’s house, they discussed the betrothal. An offer of ten million rupees was made by the girl’s father as dowry. With the talks over, they withdrew.
Mother and son reunited. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Just a year later, instead of going ahead with the wedding, the friend Manjula Sandakelum had other plans. He noted that the girl’s father was rich. So he worked out a plot to abduct his four year old grandson Danidu Yasen Ekanayake and demand a ransom.
For four days, the abductors talked to the child’s father and grandfather. What they did not know was that Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives were keeping a close tab on the hostage negotiations.
Danidu was rescued by Police officers on Friday night, four days after he was abducted from his home. He was unharmed, police said.
Investigations revealed that the main suspect involved in the abduction, 32-year-old Manjula Sandakelum, a resident of Attanagalla, Galgamuwa, had visited Danidu’s house with a friend who had been proposed in marriage to the boy’s aunt. The father of the
The CID officers who helped rescue the child
prospective bride had disclosed that the dowry money on offer was Rs. 10 million. The marriage did not materialise but almost a year later, the suspect had used this bit of information to carry out a malicious plan.
Police said the initial plan was to abduct the boy’s father Mahinda Kumara, a rice mill owner but as this failed they had taken his son instead. Mr. Kumara and his wife who resisted the abduction sustained cut injuries.
The initial investigation was conducted by the Galgamuwa, Giribawa and Meegalewa police and was later taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
CID officers learnt that the father and grandfather of the child had received several telephone calls from the abductors demanding money.
During a phone conversation the grandfather had requested to see the child and the abductors had posted a photograph of the boy’s talisman as evidence that he was with them. The abductors had also allowed Danidu to talk to his grandfather following an appeal.
Acting upon the instructions of the CID, the grandfather had managed to bring down the ransom demand to Rs. 3.5 million and had agreed on a location where the money would be delivered. The abductors had made him go to seven different locations in Ehetuwewa and Galgamuwa to hand over the money.
It was during this time that the CID tracked down one of the suspects, 21-year-old Sanjeewa Wijekoon. The officers had arrested him at around 8.30 p.m. on Friday in his house in Guruthota, Galgamuwa. When confronted by the Police, he confessed to the crime and disclosed information about his associates.
Shortly afterwards the CID managed to track the rest down and apprehend them. Two of the other suspects were identified as 27-year-old Chaturanga Kumara Sampath a resident of Kuliyapitiya and 23-year-old Dinesh Priyasath from Galgamuwa.
Danidu was found in a house in Embogama, Galgamuwa where the suspects had left him before being arrested. The house had been rented a month ago in the same area.
Police said they apprehended the suspects after tracking telephone calls and gathering details from SIM cards.
The suspects will be produced in court this week. The maximum penalty for abduction is a 20-year prison sentence.