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Ex-DIG and five others to hang for the murder of businessman
View(s):The once powerful Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Vass Gunawardena remained stoic as he was led out of the Colombo High Court premises under heavy guard on Friday afternoon after being handed down the death sentence for the murder of businessman Mohammed Shyam.
Vass Gunawardena and his son Ravindu were among six persons sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court for the abduction and murder of the Bambalapitiya businessman. Sub Inspector Bamunusinghe, Police Constable G.A. Sanathchandra, Police Constable A.P. Priyantha Sanjeeva and K.R. Dissanayake were the other four accused sentenced to death.
While the former DIG showed little emotion other than briefly thanking the media for their continued interest in the case, his son Ravindu broke down briefly while there were emotional reactions from family members of the other four convicted.The six were found guilty by a Trial-at-Bar. The 802-page judgment of the bench comprising High Court Judges Lalith Jayasuriya (Chairman), Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena and Amendra Seneviratne was unanimous.
In addition to the death sentence, Mr. Vass Gunawardena was also given ten years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000. The other five accused sentenced to death were also ordered to serve five-year jail terms and imposed a fine of a Rs. 5,000 each.
The case was taken up as a special judicial trial by a three-member court without a jury following the request of the former Attorney General Palitha Fernando to the former Chief Justice. The suspects pleaded not guilty when they were indicted on March 31 last year.
During the case two accused, Krishantha Wishawaraj Koralage and Mohamed Fawzdeen, were granted conditional pardons after they turned state witnesses. Police provided special security arrangements in the Court premises on a special request made by the Court.
CID investigations were carried out by Superintendent Shani Abeysekara and Inspector Ranjith Munasinghe, with Sub Inspector Upali Bandara assisting. Some 115 witnesses were named to give evidence but this number increased to 307 during the proceedings.
Additional Solicitor General Ayesha Jinasena conducted her submission for 10 days — the longest by an attorney addressing a court in Sri Lanka’s legal history. The submissions made by the prosecution instituting charges against the accused comprised five volumes, each running to nearly 1,500 pages.