'Podi Sagara' commits suicide after police raid

'Podi Sagara' commits suicide after police raid

The criminal known as 'Podi Sagara' who is supposed to be connected to 7 murders in Seeduwa, Negombo, Gampaha areas during the past had shot himself on the head with a pistol inside the house of his paramour being gripped with fear of a police raid carried out day before yesterday night.

He was considered as the closest suspect in relation to the murder of Nalinda Udaya Kumara last November and had been wanted by the police.
While he was taking refuge at his paramour's house in Medagama, Gokarella area the police has had a tip off and in that instance they had conducted this raid on the information received. On this occasion when the paramour had yelled out saying, "Policiya penno!" 'Podi Sagara' who had taken his pistol had run down the corridor of the house and finally ended up by committing suicide by shooting his own head, it was reported. 

Because of the gun-shots serious damage was done to Podi Sagara's head and face and his body was seen sprawling across a pool of blood. 39 year old Sumith Dayaratna alias Podi Sagara had been scaring businessmen and taking ransoms from them for a period of time. Podi Sagara in fact was responsible for accusations of firing at a prison bus in Udugampola area in 2005 and thus killing 3 prison officers and a prisoner and also for shooting down 3 persons in Katunayaka and Seeduwa area with 7 homicides all to his credit. While a number of court cases are pending against him in relation to murders and crimes of ransom, he had been in jail only for a short time in each criminal case but had been released on bail. As he maintained close relationships with a strong politician and a chairman of a provincial council in Western Province he was fortunate in getting an opportunity in getting away on most occasions. However now such opportunities are not available to him, it was said. 

The deceased who used to earn lakhs of money by collecting ransoms for a month had been accustomed to spending much of that money on gambling sprees, police say. Because of his constant threats of demanding ransom, some businessmen in Negombo and Katunayaka areas have fled from those locations and are supposed to be living in hiding in some other places in the island. It has been revealed at police investigations that Podi Sagara had for some time been living with the woman who owns the house where he committed suicide and had been spending his time as husband and wife while the legal husband of this woman is spending a 20 year jail sentence for an offence of criminal rape. When the woman had gone to prison to visit her husband, Podi Sagara had made an alliance with her and had managed to get her phone number with her consent. Later when the deceased had been released on bail, he had called her and after coming to her house had kept her as his illicit 'keep' and had thus been living with her. She had initially come to know Podi Sagara after a telephone call from him subsequent  to which he had helped her out with finances and then begun to frequent her house, she had revealed to police day before yesterday. 

Kurunegala Chief Magistrate Miss Geethani Wijeysingha who visited the scene of the crime last afternoon (21) had instructed the Chief Judicial Medical Officer of Kurunegala to conduct the post mortem on the body. She also issued instructions for conducting further enquiries about evidence in the presence of Kurunegala Magistrate's Court on forthcoming 28th.