The tiler who killed the watchman of Galewela farm and robbed the dairy

The saying that a person who commits a crime can never hide was repeatedly proven true as an individual who committed a murder and fled has been arrested after two years and three months. This incident is reported from the Galewela Police Station, which belongs to the Matale Police Division. According to the Galewela Police, the incident is briefly as follows.

The police's efforts to apprehend the suspect, who had evaded them for two and a half years, were commendable.

Three years ago, on October 25, 2023, a complaint was received by the Galewela Police. The complaint came from the National Livestock Board located on the Galewela - Kurunegala road. They complained to the police that the caretaker of the dairy farm belonging to the board had been assaulted, and the dairy had been broken into, with goods stolen. Upon learning of the incident, a team including Rajarathna from the Criminal Investigation Division, led by Galewela Police Station OIC Vipula Bandara, departed for the scene.

The dairy was located 7 to 8 feet above ground level. The dairy's caretaker was found lying in the wooded area on the slope below. His limbs and face were wrapped in a bedsheet. Officers examined him. He did not appear to be breathing. Upon further examination, the officers realized he had passed away. After informing Senior Superintendent of Police Wickramanayake, in charge of the Matale Division, and Assistant Superintendent of Police Chandrasiri, investigations began under their instructions. Subsequently, Matale Division SOCO officers were also called to the scene, and steps were taken to report the matter to the court.

Accordingly, the Dambulla Magistrate visited the scene and conducted a magisterial inquiry, and on the Magistrate's instructions, the body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem examination. The deceased was sixty-year-old caretaker Karuppiah Swaminathan, a resident of Ranwadiyawa, Galewela. Meanwhile, officers who began investigations were told by officials in charge of the Livestock Board's dairy that the thieves who killed Karuppiah had broken into the dairy and stolen goods worth nearly one hundred thousand rupees, including bottles of treacle, coconut oil, and milk produced at the farm. The next focus of the team, including Chief Inspector Vipula Bandara, was on the CCTV cameras installed around the dairy. This proved to be a great help in the investigation. Upon reviewing the footage, all details of the theft, which occurred around midnight the previous day, were recorded.

The cameras clearly recorded two individuals arriving at the dairy, the caretaker sleeping on two tables joined together near the dairy, the individuals grappling with him, and then covering his limbs and face tightly with the bedsheet he was wrapped in. Subsequently, as they tried to enter the dairy, the caretaker, whose limbs had been released, screamed again, and then the two returned and pressed his face with the bedsheet, which was also recorded.

Furthermore, the footage showed both individuals together lifting the caretaker and dropping him into the sloped area below the dairy. Although investigations proceeded based on this, the identities of the two individuals who came for the robbery were not revealed. Meanwhile, the post-mortem report regarding the deceased caretaker was also received by the police. The report stated that he had died from suffocation. The investigating officers made a strenuous effort to identify the two individuals who murdered the dairy caretaker and robbed the goods, by showing the CCTV footage of their faces to residents in the area, drug addicts, and various other people, hoping to gather information or an identification.

Meanwhile, CCTV camera footage containing information about the incident was also broadcast through television news. During this time, a person who watched the news met the Galewela Police Station OIC and stated that two individuals resembling those in the CCTV footage had visited a tea shop near the courthouse a few hours before the incident and had tea. Accordingly, the OIC went to the tea shop near the Dambulla courthouse, met the person who provided the information, inquired for further details, and initiated investigations based on that lead. It became clear to the OIC that the two individuals in the CCTV footage and the two who had tea at the shop were the same people.

"Sir, these two came to the shop on foot. I think they might be two people from this area." The OIC also had this suspicion. Accordingly, the officers tried to identify the individuals by showing the CCTV footage to people in the area. "Sir... one of those in the pictures is Manju. He's a drug user. He's also involved in thefts." "Where is he?" The person who gave the information also told them where Manju lived. "He's with Amima." The officers went to suspect Manju's house. But Manju was not home. The officers asked his mother about Manju. "Sir... Manju is my son. Last night he came here with someone else. They came and left during the night."

The mother's statement increased the officers' suspicion about Manju. The officers began investigations to find Manju. From that point on, however, finding Manju was not easy. Further investigation revealed that Manju had been arrested by the Avissawella Police for another offense and was already being held at Kuruvita Prison.

Later, further inquiries revealed that Manju was imprisoned due to lack of money for bail. After keeping a close watch on him, the officers apprehended him the moment he was released from prison on bail.

Subsequently, the officers extensively questioned Manju, who was taken to the Galewela Police Station. "I don't know him. I met him when I went to Thotalanga to do drugs, Sir," Manju told the police.

"Where are the goods you stole from the dairy shop?"

"Sir... we put the treacle bottles, milk bottles, and coconut oil bottles that were there into two fertilizer sacks and took them to the Thotalanga pavement and sold them. We used the money we got from that to buy 'ice' (drugs)." However, based on the suspect's statement, the names and addresses of the other person who went with him for the theft were not revealed to the police, and the police suspected that this person was a resident of Thotalanga. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ajith Lal Nishantha (58833), who was on duty at another police station, received a transfer to Galewela. The OIC had an understanding of his capabilities. He then assigned Sergeant Nishantha the task of finding the other suspect.

Sergeant Nishantha went to Thotalanga with the CCTV camera footage to find the suspect. The sergeant worked hard to identify the person in the footage by presenting it to residents of Thotalanga as well as the village officer. The sergeant did not forget to show the CCTV footage to drug users at the drug dens in the Thotalanga area. While searching for information in this manner, a woman residing in Thotalanga also told the sergeant this:

"Sir, I know them. They came and sold treacle bottles and milk bottles. They do drugs in that old toilet. If you go there, you can find out more details." With this information, the sergeant met the village officer in the area and presented the information he had gathered, after which it was confirmed that this person was named "Suresh."

Thereafter, the sergeant tracked Suresh for over two years. On one occasion, based on information received, the sergeant went to Katugastota. On another occasion, based on information that Suresh was in the Ranwala area, the sergeant went to Ranwala. After visiting several villages in this manner, the sergeant received another piece of information last week: that Suresh had married a woman with four children and was living in the Badalgama area. The sergeant went to Badalgama and searched for Suresh. He also met the village officer and obtained information from him. Another piece of information was received there: "Sir, that woman leaves all four children with her mother and works at a coconut mill in the Katukenda area, with that man." Upon receiving the information, the sergeant went to Katukenda and searched for information about Suresh. The sergeant received information that the woman involved with Suresh was coming to meet the village officer regarding a complaint about the children not attending school.

The sergeant went there disguised as a probation officer. There, the sergeant, disguised as a probation officer, met the children's mother and, under the guise of gathering information, went with her directly to Suresh. That is how Suresh was cornered, two and a half years after killing the caretaker. The arrested individual worked as a tile layer. (Keerthi Mendis)