Aravinda was reportedly upset about Kapila, who was separated from his wife, getting the belt on the last day.

The inquest into the death of Mr. Kapila Chandrasena, former CEO of SriLankan Airlines, who mysteriously passed away, was held today, the 12th, before Colombo Fort Magistrate Mr. Pasan Amarasekara. During the hearing, several sensitive and crucial facts regarding the complex and tragic chain of events that occurred in the days leading up to this unfortunate incident were revealed to the court. Police Constable A.D.S. from the Colombo Crimes Division presented investigative findings for this inquest.

Sampath (83080) presented the investigative findings, and the two main witnesses related to the incident, former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, Aravinda de Silva, and his wife, Priyangi Anushka Wijayanayake, recorded their testimonies at length.

Mrs. Priyangi Anushka, the sister of the deceased Mr. Kapila Chandrasena's wife, was the first to take the witness stand and clarified facts to the court regarding Mr. Chandrasena's personal life and his last few days. As she stated, Mr. Kapila Chandrasena was a very quiet person who lived to himself, and after his wife and two children moved to Australia, he only came to Sri Lanka a very limited number of times, about four times a year. She said that although she knew there was some separation in their family life, she did not have a deep understanding of it, and she also recalled that Mr. Chandrasena always acted only on the advice of his lawyers. She stated that he had been remanded in connection with an ongoing investigation related to SriLankan Airlines and had returned to his home in Barnes Place after being granted bail by the court on May 5th or 6th, 2026.

Mrs. Priyangi stated that when he first came home, her husband was not there, and only she and the household staff were present. She detailed to the investigating officers that as soon as Mr. Chandrasena arrived, he addressed her as "Hello Anushka," and she gave him two glasses of watermelon juice, rice, and a glass of milk coffee, after which he left the house. However, she said that the next day, a Thursday, he returned to his house alone around 4:00 PM, and at that time, her son and the household staff were there. She further stated to the court that Mr. Chandrasena gave her a car key and asked her to have the car driven to her house by a driver, and accordingly, she handed the key to her driver.

The witness further stated that her husband, Mr. Aravinda de Silva, arrived home around 4:30 PM that day, and when he went to his room to prepare for a meeting, he saw Mr. Chandrasena at home and discussed it with her. As Mr. Aravinda de Silva had to attend an event as a chief guest, he left the house again, stating that he was going to meet his lawyer and asked her to be ready. Afterwards, they went to meet the lawyer along with Chamila and Shantha, who had come to arrange bail, and Mr. Chandrasena was still on the first floor of the house. Mrs. Priyangi explained that when they returned home around 10:00 PM after meeting the lawyer and having dinner, Mr. Chandrasena came downstairs, but he appeared to be under severe mental stress and refused dinner that night. She said that her eldest son's room was prepared for him to sleep in, but she did not know the exact time he went to sleep.

She recalled that she woke up around 4:00 AM the next day and engaged in religious observances, and seeing the door of Mr. Chandrasena's room closed, she assumed he was asleep. Around 6:00 AM, she woke the children to send them to school. The lawyer arrived at the house around 7:00 AM, and after Mr. Aravinda de Silva stated that there was no response despite knocking on Mr. Chandrasena's room door, she said she opened the door using the master key she possessed. She stated that no one was on the bed in the room, and she saw a chair turned towards the bathroom. She then immediately came out of the room on the lawyer's advice and made a phone call to the hospital. In response to the investigating officer's question about why she did not report to work that day, she stated that due to the severe mental stress Mr. Chandrasena was under the previous night and his scheduled court appearance that morning, she had an intuitive feeling that he might have fallen ill or suffered a loss of life.

Subsequently, former cricketer Mr. Aravinda de Silva, who appeared to give evidence before the court, presented a very detailed account of the severe difficulties he faced during the bail process for Mr. Kapila Chandrasena and the conversations that took place that night. He stated that he faced a severe crisis in arranging money and sureties for the bail of his wife's brother-in-law, who was imprisoned on bribery charges, due to delays in obtaining Grama Seva certificates. For this reason, he explained that on legal advice, he gave Rs. 500,000 to Ganesh Perumal, an employee at his office, to remove the previous sureties and arrange for his release through new sureties. He also stated that Mr. Chandrasena, who had not had proper food for several days, was immediately brought to his home upon release and allowed to rest.

Mr. Aravinda de Silva testified that on the morning of May 7th, Mr. Chandrasena called him and thanked him profusely for his help, but the situation completely turned upside down when information was received during the daytime that another warrant had been issued against him. He explained that he immediately brought him to his house, and the lawyer advised keeping him at home for security reasons when they were going to meet the lawyer. Due to the new warrant, it was unsafe for him to go to another place at night, so the lawyer informed Mr. Chandrasena to stay at his house. Accordingly, Mr. Aravinda de Silva recalled that although he offered to give him a sarong for the night, Mr. Chandrasena called a servant at his house and, putting the phone on speaker, asked him to bring the necessary medicines, clothes, and a gym mat. When he asked if the gym mat was for exercise, the witness said he could not understand the strange answer Mr. Chandrasena gave, saying it was for hanging clothes.

Mr. Aravinda de Silva explained to the court that while they were talking in the dining room that night, Mr. Chandrasena expressed his feelings with great shock and despair, saying, "It's only been a day since I came out, and they are trying to put me back in again." He said that he tried hard to calm him down, telling him it was a minor issue. The witness then stated that he gave Mr. Chandrasena a room to rest and went to sleep himself. He woke up around 7:15 AM the next day and knocked on his room door and the bathroom door several times, but received no response. After coming downstairs and informing the lawyer, who had already arrived at the house, his wife and the lawyer went and opened the door with the master key. He emotionally stated that when he peered into the room, he saw something hanging. Mr. Aravinda de Silva concluded his lengthy testimony by informing the court that after a doctor was immediately called and examined him, it was confirmed that he had passed away. The Magistrate ordered the inquest to be postponed until the 14th to hear the testimonies of the remaining five witnesses related to this mysterious death.