Kandana horror: 5 brutally slain bodies in swamp

By Asif Fuard

The discovery of five bullet-riddled bodies in a Kandana swamp with their faces blindfolded and disfigured has caused shock and horror yesterday.

Deputy Inspector General D.W. Prathapasinghe, who is directing investigations, said they were yet to ascertain the identity of the five bodies.

Kandana police detectives said evidence indicated the five people were abducted, brought to the swamp and brutally slain.
The five persons were clad in somewhat similar clothes — collarless t-shirts and jeans — and appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s.

The killers had submerged the bodies in the marshy bog which is shrouded by wild trees and bushes growing in the area.
On Friday evening a boy who was flying his kite in the open stretch had got the kite string entangled on a tree near the swamp.

When the boy went to the swamp to get his kite which was stuck had stepped on a dead body. He later saw a hand appearing from the swamp.

“The boy came to my house crying saying that he had seen a hand sticking out of the marsh and wanted me to come along with him. When I arrived I saw one body and lifted it out. I found two more bodies soon after,” resident A.D. Vincent said.
He said that police had found two more bodies last morning.

Police yesterday deployed more personnel to search the Muthurajawela marsh amidst fears there may be more bodies.