13 June 2020 06:17 am
Police on duty at the Colombo National Hospital on August 27, 2018 had failed to conduct a thorough inspection when Zaharan Hashim's brother Rilwan was admitted to the hospital with blast injuries and this led to the escape of a major suicide bomber from in-depth investigations, PCoI into the Easter Sunday attacks observed yesterday.
When the Commissioners showed a video done by the suicide bombers before the Saindamarudu blast, a doctor H.K. Chandana attached to the CNH identified Rilwan Hashim as the person who was admitted to the hospital in 2018.
“This patient was admitted under the name M.I. Shahid. He was later identified as a suspect in the case in connection with the vandalizing of Buddha statues in Mawanella. He was admitted by a person named M.I. Sadique later identified as the second suspect in the vandalizing of Buddha statues in Mawanella. Sadique said he was Rilwan Hashim's guardian,” Dr. Chandana said.
Testifying before the Commission, the CNH Police Unit's then OIC B.C. Nanayakkara said the person who admitted Rilwan Hashim to the hospital had in a statement to the police unit said they did not need a police inquiry into this matter.
“Considering this statement, we stopped conducting further inquiries,” he said.
He claimed that the police officers serving under him at the time had not informed him about admitting Rilawn Hashim to the hospital and the suspicious nature of his injuries.
Testifying before the Commission, Colombo Chief JMO Dr. Ajith Tennakoon said when hospital doctors inquired about the cause of Rilwan’s injuries, M.I. Sadique said the injuries was the result of a gas cylinder blast.
“However, due to the suspicious nature of these injuries, the doctors who checked Rilwan had recommended a police inquiry for the patient,” he said.
Referring to Rilwan's injuries, Dr. Tennekoon said when analysing Rilwan's medical reports he observed that only the upper level of his body had been injured and such injuries could not occur because of a gas cylinder blast.
“Considering the manner in which the injuries were located on his body, we can come to a conclusion that these injuries would have happened due to a chemical reaction,” he said.
However, Dr. Tennekoon said that without considering the recommendations given by the doctors, the Police unit had stopped conducting an inquiry into the matter and as such there was no inquiry nor was their a JMO report in this case. (Yoshitha Perera)