CID probing evidence destruction in high-profile cases

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said investigations into several high-profile cases are progressing, with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) conducting comprehensive inquiries to identify those who tampered with or destroyed crucial evidence linked to the cases.   

The Minister explained that some of the cases are particularly complex, as investigators are required to trace and identify individuals responsible for destroying evidence linked to these high-profile cases. He assured that investigations have commenced in earnest and will continue without interruption, although they may take some time to conclude.   

Minister Wijepala said that certain details of the investigations cannot be disclosed at this stage as doing so could hamper the investigations.   

Minister Wijepala further said that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is regularly reviewing the progress of these investigations. He said that comprehensive inquiries are being carried out to uncover those who tampered with or destroyed evidence.   

Many crimes, including several high-profile assassinations, have gone unpunished in Sri Lanka over the past several decades. In October 2024, the Minister instructed the IGP to expedite police investigations into a number of prominent cases, including the Easter Sunday bombings and the controversial 2015 Treasury Bond auction.   

Instructions were also issued to accelerate investigations into the death of businessman Dinesh Schaffter. The 2022 murder of Schaffter remains one of the country’s most disturbing unresolved cases.   

Despite widespread public attention and ongoing investigations, authorities have yet to determine the motive or bring those responsible to justice, more than three years after the incident. The 52-year-old businessman was found tied to the driver’s seat of his vehicle at the Borella Cemetery on December 15, 2022, and died the following day due to cardiac arrest while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital.   

The IGP has also been directed to give special attention to, and expedite, several investigations being conducted by the CID and other agencies, as progress in some of these cases has been assessed as insufficient.   

In addition, instructions have been issued at that time to further investigate the disappearance of former Eastern University Vice-Chancellor Professor S. Raveendranath in 2006.   

In April last year, former Parliamentarian Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, was arrested in connection with investigations into an enforced disappearance, reportedly linked to the same case.   

Meanwhile, directives have also been given to reopen investigations into the abduction and murder of Tamil journalist Taraki Shivaram, also known as Dharmaratnam Shivaram, who was killed on April 28, 2005. Authorities have also been instructed to expedite investigations into the disappearance of activists Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan in Jaffna on December 9, 2011.