“After Dinesh Schaffter” – Three Prompts for Corporate Leaders
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The car of murdered businessman Dinesh Schaffter was found at this location at the Kanatte cemetery.
“While they saw no value in life, there was a price on offer for a death” – so goes a deep-rooted adage. For some people, netting a few dollars more or pure vengeance is all what it takes to embrace such impulses. That usually is the psychic status of felonious man hunters – mercenary or otherwise.
Just 10 days ago from today on December 15, 2022, till about 3pm, it would most likely have been a routine day for the Schaffter family and in the Janashakthi Group.
Then, as in the case of almost all tragedies, out of the blue – hell broke loose!! First it was doubts on the whereabouts of Dinesh Schaffter – one of the affluent Sri Lankan corporate personalities and an ex-first class cricketer. Escalating doubts led to panic-waves in his close circle.
Soon it emerged that he has been criminally manhandled/strangulated to near-death inside his vehicle parked within a rather eccentric locality – General Cemetery in Colombo.
Dinesh was destined to depart forever on a hospital bedstead on the same day – and the shockwaves generated by that tragic episode continue to tremor, especially in the corporate domain and elite social echelons.
Whether the reason for this brutal slaying is personal, commercial, financial or otherwise, the significant probability that transpired is that Dinesh Schaffter has been diplomatically engineered into a veiled trap-in-waiting by whoever blueprinted/masterminded the broad daylight murder.
On the flipside, whether the lethal manhandling took-place elsewhere and the cemetery was used as a dumping yard by the perpetrators – or whether the manhandling was a result of a spontaneously provoked scuffle are some other possibility remains to be seen.
Much has been said, speculated and whispered around, predominantly on why, what, how and who factors, while the criminal investigation on incident specifics is yet to reach its conclusive stage as of today. Let’s rest it with detectives and Nano-forensic experts to get to the depth and the authentic truth – and focus ourselves on key learnings in a futuristic sense.
If this disturbing episode is confirmed to be a premeditated murder, then the vital realisation here is that something similar can happen to anyone, anywhere on any day, unless right safeguards are practiced consciously, constantly and seamlessly. This cognisance is more so crucial for top business executives and also for Commercially Important Persons (CIPs).
Thus, let us briefly focus on three reminder prompts that underscores this episode.
- Prompt 1: History Repeats.
Historically and globally, high profile business executives (and CIPs) have been blackmailed for ransom, threatened with life, physically attacked, abducted, taken hostage and murdered by various elements for multiple reasons world over – and Sri Lanka is no exception. The point to reminisce is that history keeps repeating at some stage, and every time someone falls victim.
It is always attackers who decide the target – date – time – place – mode – magnitude – and the outcome of the crime, quite often without hinting of such a looming threat to the victim or victims.
Meanwhile, it is also worthwhile to be conscious about the criminal perspective “You have to be lucky always, but we have to be lucky only once” – a warning line to potential targets from IRA guerillas in Ireland back then. It remains a timeless diction in relation to personal protection.
- Prompt 2: The Risk Spectrum.
On a scale of probability, we generally debate within ourselves as to “Such episode is one in a million case” – which is a strong counter-point too. Nevertheless, what’s critical here is to take objective efforts to remain within that million, and not to become that unfortunate ONE, owing to over-confidence and complacency!! And the focus here should be placed on ‘impact on life, family and business when it so happens’ way over the probability in the risk matrix.
The top business executives ought to first comprehend, and then contemplate on the risk spectrum that includes home – road – office – leisure – travel – events – invitations – meetings – family – friends and acquaintances – investments – disputes – litigation – lifestyle and so on.
This is not to be riding on the negative (and backing-off) life path, but to stay confident that one has taken possible eventualities into consideration in the personal protective realm so that a wayward reactive approach is elevated to coherently responsive approach.
- Prompt 3: Action is Everything.
Wealth, fame, power, positions, investments, networks, potentials and competitions attract certain exclusively elusive life risks. That is how and why the strategic discipline called “Executive Protection” has become a subtle but critical facet, especially for top tier corporate executives.
When attackers are tactically seasoned and essentially ruthless, it’s just obvious that the basis of protection cannot merely be naïve, superficial and haphazard. That is why professionally designed holistic protective planning is a solemn necessity. It’s not about mere generic planning, but about personalised planning based on static and transient dynamics.
At the same time, however professional a plan could be, they only create an ornamental shelf value, unless it is educated, rehearsed, exposed to penetrative testing with associate simulations – and reviewed for precise up-scaling to meet the snowballing challenges.
The tested and proved management mantra “Plans are nothing – Practice is everything” gifts us abundant wisdom in this regard.
When the landscape gets disturbingly rough, protection becomes a must. When prevention is uncertain, then protection becomes the next best solution.
(The writer is a foremost enterprise risk management specialist and a seasoned corporate risk trainer who serves as the CEO of Strategic Risk Solutions. He has been an educational columnist for the Sunday Times since 2005 and can be reached on solutions@sltnet.lk or via web www.solutions.lk)
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