Police yesterday recorded the statement of former head of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) over the abduction and brutal assault of a student of the technology institute in Malabe.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vass Gunawardena, now attached to Police Headquarters made the statement to Anura Senanayake, DIG (Crimes).
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| Shyamalee Priyadarshani Perera leaving the Magistrate’s
Court on Thursday |
“We cannot comment on the matter since inquiries are still at a preliminary stage,” Senanayake told the Sunday Times.
SSP Gunawardena’s wife Shyamalee Priyadarshani Perera has been remanded till August 31. She is the mother of the prime suspect, Ravindu Gunawardena. She surrendered with her lawyer, Denzil Gunaratne, to Police Headquarters on Thursday morning and was produced at the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court. Ravindu together with eleven police officers and home guards were ordered by the Magistrate and Additional District Judge Prashantha de Silva to be held in remand custody.
During proceedings on Thursday, the judge noted that she should have surrendered to Courts earlier. She had done so two weeks after the reported incident, he observed. This was after Counsel Gunaratne said the media had blown the entire case out of proportion and argued it was a matter for the Mediation Board to settle.
Chief Inspector O.K.T. Nanayakkara, officer-in-charge of the Crime Division at Police Headquarters said the victim of abduction and assault, Nipuna Ramanayake, had been abducted on August 4 by several police personnel and Ravindu Gunawardena, son of SSP Gunawardena.
He told Court that his investigation team had probed into mobile phone calls made by Ravindu. He had telephoned his mother’s land line twice. His mother had also called him on his mobile phone.
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| Vass Gunawardena |
Nipuna Ramanayake a student of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) has told Police that after he was abducted, he was blindfolded and was made to lay on the floor of the jeep which bore the number plate HB 6305. It later transpired that the vehicle belonged to the CCD. He had said he heard Ravindu calling his mother.
Ramanayake alleged that he was taken to a house and tortured for several hours. He alleged they beat him with cricket stumps until they broke. He has claimed that Mrs. Shyamalie Gunawardena who came to the scene used obscene language at him. She had then allegedly kicked him in the face and said “this is a woman who is assaulting you.” She had then allegedly stood on his face and asked him to “weigh her.”
Last week, the Kaduwela Magistrate ordered the Police to arrest Ravindu and impound his passport. Upon being remanded, Ravindu had been admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital. However, the Magistrate asked his counterpart in the Gangodawila courts to examine him. The Gangodawila Magistrate who visited the hospital on Monday ordered that the suspect be returned to remand custody since he did not require hospitalization. |
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