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DIG said chief suspect not arrested for lack of evidence: SSP
A former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) this week said he was told by a senior Police officer in the North, that a key suspect was not arrested, only a statement recorded, as there was no evidence against him. Former SSP Lakshman Weerasekara was testifying before the Trial-at-Bar bench hearing the case of Sivaloganathan Vidya, who was abducted, raped and murdered in the Kayts area, Jaffna on May 13, 2015.
The Trial-at-Bar Bench comprises High Court Judge (HCJ) of Vavuniya B. Sasi Mahendran (President) , HCJ of Trincomalee Annalingam Premashankar and HCJ of Jaffna M. Illancheliyan. Mr Weerasekara, now retired from service, told Court that, then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police for Northern Province (NP), Lalith Jayasinghe had told him that suspect Mahalingam Sasikumar alias ‘Swiss Kumar’, was not arrested because there was no evidence against him.
He said the DIG told him that a team was sent to arrest the chief suspect, but had been told by the Sub Inspector (SI) and the other officer, that the suspect cannot be arrested as there was no evidence against him. He said the details were revealed after he was summoned to the DIG’s office, where a Dean of a Law Faculty V.P. Thamilmaran was also present. The DIG obtained the information from the OIC of the Kurikattuwan police point, where, he said, the name of Swiss Kumar had not transpired.
Thereafter, Mr Thamilmaran had pointed out Swiss Kumar should be arrested and sought the support of the police, and accordingly, left with SI Sri Gajan and another officer. Two hours later, the police officers called to say they had arrested a suspect (Swiss Kumar) and wanted to bring him to Jaffna. Mr Weerasekara said, when he told SI Sri Gajan to produce Swiss Kumar at Jaffna Police, he was told that, as there was no evidence against him over the murder, he cannot be produced. “I told SI Sri Gajan to produce him as one of the suspects, but he rejected that.”
He said, later he was told by then North Senior DIG G.K. Perera to record a statement from him and, if he had injuries, to admit him to hospital for medical checkup.
Meanwhile, as the 46th witness in the case, Ramaiyah Kanageswaran, owner of a lodge in Colombo told Court on Wednesday that he came to know about Swiss Kumar, the mastermind behind the rape and murder of the schoolgirl, only after his neighbouring shop owners told him, quoting news websites.
He told Court the main suspect came to the lodge in the early hours of May 18, 2015, with multiple injuries to his body and head. He was accompanied by his wife, child and his mother. The Wellawatta police arrived next morning and arrested Swiss Kumar. On Thursday, the 42nd witness, Criminal Investigation Division (CID) SI Piyagamage Sisira Tissera explained why police had to arrest the suspect under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), instead of under ordinary criminal offences.
He told Court that, when he saw the victim’s body which was in very bad condition, he suspected this crime had been committed by a notorious group intending to create racial or religious violence in the region. Therefore, a request was made to the President, through Defence Ministry, to arrest them under PTA, and after 60 days of detention under PTA, they were charged under criminal offences, as it was established the suspects were not involved in any terrorism related activities.
Submissions by the witness was directed by Deputy Solicitor General P. Kumarratnam along with State Counsel Nagaratnam Nishanth. Further submissions to continue tomorrow.