Suspicious death of Sri Lankan in Maldives

Negombo City Coroner Dr. Siri Jayantha Wickremaratne who held the preliminary inquiry into the death of a young man who died during a trip to Maldives, ordered police to produce before him the woman who had accompanied him on the journey.  

He decided that the circumstance that led to the death had not been established during the inquiry and that the statement of the woman concerned should be recorded.   

The deceased Havaragoda Kuruppuge Dasun Tharanga (33) was a resident of Robert Gunawardene Mawatha in Udayapura, Battaramulla.

He had gone to Maldives on December 16 with his fiancée and had died four days later.  

Testifying before the coroner, sister of the deceased Kuruppuge Dilshani (31) a SLAS officer said that the deceased was an employee of an insurance company and that he was under treatment for high blood cholesterol.

She also said he left on the trip to Maldives with his fiancée Chamila and that she suspected foul play. 

JMO Negombo General Hospital M.N.Rahulhuk who performed the postmortem examination reported that the death was due to drowning. The coroner returned an open verdict pending evidence of eye witnesses. (Hubert Fernando)