Relative who killed Piliyandala execuive officer cornered ... when he paid for his meals at Food Court with her credit card and got into cab in car park

Relative who killed Piliyandala execuive officer cornered ... when he paid for his meals at Food Court with her credit card and got into cab in car park

A young man who allegedly is a relative son of a lady of an executive capacity from Piliyandala was killed when getting ready to go to work and was robed of her gold jewellery, credit cards ad other items belonging to her was finally accosted by police.This young man is presently under remand and his confession and the operations launched on his hideouts by police in a tactical manner have now been revealed. 

On the day of the incident of murder this mother of two children named Niranjani Weerasingha and aged 54 years was in the house all alone. It is understood that this suspect named Randika who used
to address her as 'punchi' had entered her home at the time she was prepared to leave to office that morning. 

"I am 35 years of age ... I am married and have one child. But my wife has separated from me. She has filed a maintenance case against me; therefore I have to pay her monthly. I was importing vehicle spare parts as my business. I live in Pelmadulla. But my business flopped and I wanted money to meet the maintenance costs. Deceased Niranjani is a distant relation of mine and by relationship is a 'punchi' and because of that relationship I have been in and out of that house on and off. 

I went to her house that morning to ask her for some cash; because she did a good job and did not think that she will not refuse to help me. But since I came early morning, 'punchi' did not show me a good face as such. She called me to come and take a seat. I asked for some water to drink. She obliged me with a glass of water. After drinking I placed the glass on the teepoy and told her why I came and asked her for the money. No sooner I said that she replied that she had no money with her. She scolded me saying. "Don't come to houses asking money like this!" I also shouted at her. The argument exceeded its limits. I even hit her with my hands. Then she collapsed on the floor. I think she became unconscious. 

Then I dragged her to the bathroom. I checked what valuable things she had in her possession and I saw the gold jewellery. I took them. There were only credit cards in her purse ... there was not much money. I took that also. But then I thought ... if she came back to her conscious I felt that would be my end. So I rushed to the kitchen and there I managed to find a good knife. With that I killed her by slitting her throat. Actually at the start I did not go there with the idea of killing her as such ... but I had to do it. Fearing that there would be evidence, I washed the knife and left it in the kitchen itself. I also felt scared that my fingerprints will be traced from the glass of water on the teepoy. So I threw it into a pond y the side of the hall. I went out with the fear that the massive dog which was there at the time I entered the house will bite me. As such I armed myself with an umbrella and went out. But there was no problem. I then later closed the front door from outside, I came out and proceeded towards Maharagama. I then called a taxi service and secured a cab. I went all over Colombo the whole day in that cab. I got round the cab service aiyya. I told him that I had forgotten my identity card; that there is little money in my hands and that I have some gold jewellery and so to pawn it and take some money. He agreed. He pawned that jewellery at a pawn brokering shop in Maharagama town and got me the money. The whole day we were going here and there. 

I spent the night at a hotel in Boralesgomuwa. I called the cab boy and went here and there some days after that too. Then one day he called me and said that there was somebody who has come to meet me. The moment I came out, the police were waiting for me. That is how I was cornered". 

The manner in which Randika the suspect was so cornered is indeed fascinating. A few hours after the murdered lady was killed in that fashion, police received a call from her daughter. The daughter in fact had been living in a closeby home and she had received a call from her mother early that morning and though the daughter had anticipated a call from the mother after she goes to her office. However as she received no call from her mother, she had gone in search of the mother to her home and what she came to know was that her mother was murdered. 

The police had turned up at the scene of the murder promptly with a police dog. But investigations did not provide any useful results. Even the fingerprint experts were not able to extract anything of practical value. Whatever it is, the police recorded some signs about a glass of water which had been removed from there. 

Piliyandala police officer in charge Mr. Saranath Samarakoon had this to say: "... after that we took the deceased lady's mobile phone into our custody. A little while later, messages kept streaming in to the lady's mobile phone. We checked those. Later messages kept rolling in. Those are messages that keep coming when payment is made from the card from localities where meals and drinks are taken. From that we realised that somebody was utilising credit cards of the deceased lady". A trade stall, a restaurant at Thalawathugoda and a trade outlet of Food Court of MC in Bambalapitiya were places from where those messages came. 

Police then took steps to inquire CCTV camera footages of those locations. However, though it was identified that it was one and the same person who was detected, the person concerned had been to all such places wearing a sort of cloak where his face and head was partially covered and thus it was a difficult task to see the face clearly. Deceased Niranjani's son who had returned from overseas was shown those CCTV footages. But he too was not able to properly identify the culprit. 

In the meantime because of payment through credit cards, after identifying the Food Court in Bambalapitiya where the suspect had taken his meals, the police were able to the closest time of the CCTV footage when the suspect had been getting into a vehicle at MC car park. Police then made investigations across the number plate of that vehicle and they were able to get at the driver of who was using the vehicle concerned. 

"I don't know this gentleman, sir. But this person was travelling continuously in this cab here and there for these few days. He is from Boralesgomuwa. I can show that place, sir", the driver said. As such the police went with the driver to a certain lodging place in Boralesgomuwa. The driver was made to speak directly to the person there. As such, when the suspect who had been hiding in that location had come out ... the officers had taken him into custody. Under such circumstances, as mentioned previously the suspect has confessed how he had committed the murder. When interrogating further the knife used in the killing was shown by suspect ling in the kitchen of the house of the deceased. He had broken up the credit cards which were stolen and he has said that he had thrown the key of that house to a grass lawn down Bauddhaloka Mawatha. The police were successful in going to that spot and retrieving the key as told. The suspect has been produced in courts and presently in remand custody.

Information:  Kirthi Mendis, Halthota Vijitha Manel