Wellawatte robbery trial 24 years later, former army officer and driver freed

By Bhagya Silva 

The Colombo High Court yesterday acquitted and released a former Army Captain and his personal driver, who had been indicted over a 2001 incident in which they were accused of breaking into a jewellery shop in the Wellawatte area and robbing a mobile phone worth Rs. 20,000 by threatening the occupants with a Rambo knife and a firearm. 

Accordingly, former Army Captain Udayashantha Kodituwakku Dissanayake and his personal driver Ilanga Shiran were ordered to be released by High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne nearly twenty-four years after the alleged incident. 

Announcing the verdict, Judge Jayaratne observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Although the indictment alleged that the accused had robbed a mobile phone, the judge noted that no witness presented by the prosecution had given evidence confirming the existence of such a mobile phone. She further pointed out that the testimony of the prosecution witnesses contradicted one another. 

After a lengthy trial, the High Court delivered its judgement yesterday. The court therefore concluded that the prosecution had not established the charges beyond a reasonable doubt and ordered that the accused be acquitted and released. 

Although the Government Analyst had reported that the firearm linked to the incident was in fact an air rifle, the Attorney General had instituted the case under the Firearms Act. 

The Attorney General filed the case alleging that on April 12, 2001, the accused had broken into a jewellery shop in the Wellawatte area and robbed a mobile phone worth approximately Rs. 20,000 from Selvarajah Sivakumar by threatening him with a Rambo knife and a firearm. 

Before the indictment was filed in the High Court, the case had been heard before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court. During those proceedings, the firearm allegedly taken into custody from the accused was sent to the Government Analyst for examination. After considering the report, the then Mount Lavinia Magistrate ruled on December 2, 2004 that the case could not be proceeded with any further and ordered that the suspects be released from the case. 

In 2023, the prosecution withdrew the firearm-related charge against the accused, after which the trial continued under a revised indictment.