Exhumation of Thajudeen's body infuriates UPFA

11 August 2015 04:42 pm

Furious over the exhumation of the Havelock's Rugby Captain Wasim Thajudeen on a Court order, the UPFA claimed there were eye witnesses to prove that Thajudeen was killed in a accident on May 17, 2012.

Colombo district UPFA candidate Udaya Gammanpila told the media that he had evidence to show that Thajudeen had been drinking till late at night with two other friends and had left the club to drop his two friends in his car when the fateful accident occurred.

“He had dropped one friend at 11.50 p.m and the other at 11.55 p.m. He met with the fatal accident at 12.00 midnight on Park Road near Shalika Hall in Narahenpita. When he crashed on to the parapet wall on the left hand side of the road, there has been a huge sound. One person who was traveling to the Bandaranaike International Airport at that time on Park Road had seen the accident. Another person, an engineer, living nearby had seen seen the inferno after he came out to check the sound and is said to have called the 119,” Mr. Gammanpila said.

He claimed it was impossible to torture and kill a heavily built man like Thajudeen 6 feet 2 inches in height in a few minutes as there was less than 10 minutes between his leaving the club and accident.

Mr. Gammanpila said Thajudeen's family members were against the exhumation and might they may have cooperated with the police and the court officials because they may have been under pressure.

He said the government had resorted to a different tactic after failing to convince the ‘Hora’ allegations against UPFA leaders and challenged the government to inquire into the brutal murder of journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga and the disappearance of Pradeep Eknaligoda and asked why the murder of Mr. Thajudeen was re-opened at the tail end of the election propaganda campaign.

Mr. Gammanpila pleaded with the government not to use the dead for a political mileage during elections.

Commenting on the UNP's five-point development programme in the next five years to make Sri Lanka the Center of Excellence in South Asia, he claimed that the new country, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe promises might be without the North and East because he will have include the TNA under his national government which promises the northern voters self rule for the North-East with police and land powers and merger of the two provinces.

He challenged Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka to a public debate on the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s alleged financial assistance to the LTTE.

Mr. Gammanpila said the West and the US in particular were successful on January 8 by toppling former president Rajapaksa and now they want a regime change but people would not fall into the pit during the day time though they fell into it during the night and pointed out that the US had done this in many countries in the past. (Sandun A Jayasekera)