Teldeniya car death suspect arrested; Trail of multi-million rupee scams exposed

Colombo, June 25 (Daily Mirror) - A series of financial frauds has been uncovered following the arrest of a suspect wanted in connection with the death of a woman found inside a car in Teldeniya.

Police have arrested the 43-year-old main suspect, along with his wife and a young child, during a joint operation in Jaffna yesterday.

Nuwara Eliya Headquarters Police, along with special police teams, have launched a manhunt for a suspect after a 33-year-old physiotherapist's body was found inside a car parked near the Teldeniya Hospital last week.

The suspect was accused of posing as a software engineer and transporting the body of the physiotherapist from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy and Teldeniya. The victim has been identified as Rathnayake Pathiranage Shyama Darshani, a physiotherapist attached to the Ampara Hospital.

The investigation began on June 17, 2026, when the body of the victim, a resident of Weligama, was discovered inside a car near the Teldeniya Hospital. While the Teldeniya Police initially responded to the scene, further investigations were handed over to the Nuwara Eliya Police after it was revealed that the events leading to the crime had transpired within the Nuwara Eliya police jurisdiction.

Acting on intelligence, a team of officers from the Walana Central Anti-Vice Striking Unit tracked the victim's boyfriend and his 35-year-old wife, both residents of Pallekele, to the Jaffna area, where they were arrested in the early hours of June 24.

Following their arrest by the Walana Central Anti-Vice Striking Unit, initial investigations have exposed the male suspect's extensive criminal history.

Investigations revealed that the suspect faces a staggering number of pending cases across multiple magistrate courts, including Gampaha, Aluthkade, Tissamaharama, Kaduwela, and Horana, for multi-million rupee financial scams, many of which involved swindling women under the guise of marriage promises.

Further investigations uncovered a massive trail of financial fraud. Among his pending court cases is a lawsuit in the Gampaha Magistrate's Court, where he is accused of defrauding a victim of over Rs 11.8 million under the pretext of marriage, alongside charges of illegal vehicle usage. He faces two additional cases at the Aluthkade Magistrate's Court No. 05 for defrauding two other individuals of Rs 1.7 million and Rs 1.3 million using the same matrimonial ruse.

Beyond marriage scams, the suspect's fraudulent activities extended to vehicular and overseas employment rackets.

Police said he is facing a trial at the Tissamaharama Magistrate's Court for swindling Rs. 2.2 million by promising to import vehicles from foreign countries, as well as an Aluthkade Magistrate's Court case for a Rs 4,200,000 foreign employment scam.

In addition, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed four other pending cases against him across the Aluthkade, Horana, and Kaduwela Magistrate Courts.

Meanwhile, a driver from the Kundasale Pradeshiya Sabha was also arrested for aiding and abetting the main suspect in connection with the incident.

Police said that a special police team from the Nuwara Eliya Police went to the Kundasale area and arrested the individual yesterday (24).

Investigations revealed that the main suspect involved in the death of the woman is a friend of the suspect driver, and the driver was arrested based on the suspect's phone record data.

Following their arrest by the Walana Unit, both the main suspect and his wife were handed over to the Nuwara Eliya Police Station for further interrogation and investigations into the woman's death.