The OIC who sent Champika on Jaffna buses three times as a hiding tactic has also been arrested.

The brutal incident of a young physiotherapist being strangled to death at a tourist resort in the Nuwara Eliya area deeply shocked society. Currently, the investigations into this incident are primarily focused on the network of individuals who helped the killer evade the law and hide. The most serious and controversial aspect of this case is that a high-ranking police officer, bound to uphold justice and bring criminals to justice, as well as an employee of a local government institution, provided shelter and support to the main suspect of this heinous crime and his wife.

Notably, it was a police chief who advised Champika on a clever strategy to hide after the crime, telling him not to stay in one place but to travel on buses during the daytime. Due to this officer, who has now also been arrested, Champika managed to travel to Jaffna with his family on three occasions and return to Colombo.
Accordingly, the police chief's strategy was that it would be difficult for the police to catch him if he was on buses all day.

As investigations into the death of physiotherapist Shama Darshani expanded, a fifty-six-year-old Chief Inspector serving at the Kundasale Police Training College, who provided all necessary guidance and instructions to the main suspect (who posed as a fake software engineer) to hide, was arrested by a team of Nuwara Eliya police officers in the Kandy area. According to police sources, this senior police officer met the main suspect at his home in Kundasale on three occasions since the day of the murder, and it was he who formulated detailed plans on how to safely hide for over four days, deceiving the police. This officer, holding a responsible position in a law enforcement agency, is said to be a close friend of the main suspect, and investigations have revealed that based on the tactical advice he provided, the suspect managed to evade the police with his wife and young child.

The other important person arrested on charges of directly and indirectly aiding and abetting this crime is a forty-nine-year-old driver working at the Kundasale Pradeshiya Sabha. This individual, named Jayasinghe Arachchige Rajitha Saliya Samarasinghe, is suspected of having supported the murder plan or subsequently providing the necessary transport and other essential facilities for the suspects to escape. Nuwara Eliya police officers also arrested him in a special operation, and the police believe that the contribution received from this driver in allowing the main killer to move freely in society and find safe temporary shelters was significant.

The main suspect identified in this murder is Jayasundara Mudiyanselage Champika Sriyan Jayasundara, forty-three years old, residing in the Narammala area. His thirty-five-year-old wife, Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Nethmi Amaya Rathnayake, fully supported his escape plan. Acting on the instructions of the aforementioned Chief Inspector, this couple used a unique tactic to avoid police checkpoints during the day. They did not stay permanently in any one place but traveled on long-distance buses running from Wellawatte, Colombo, to Jaffna on three occasions with their small child to spend the daytime. They would go to Jaffna, stay there temporarily, and then return to the homes of friends they knew at night to hide.

However, thwarting the elaborate plans of this suspect couple, officers from the Walana Central Anti-Corruption Strike Unit raided the bus they were traveling in at Kaithady, Jaffna, and succeeded in arresting both suspects. Subsequently, the couple was handed over to the Nuwara Eliya Police for further investigation. Assistant Superintendent of Police Chandana Basnayake, in charge of the Nuwara Eliya Division, stated that investigations confirmed the main suspect did not attempt to flee to India or any other foreign country as he did not possess a large sum of money. It was revealed that due to a lack of funds, he attempted to pass the time by traveling on buses in various areas within Sri Lanka.

Based on a request submitted by the Nuwara Eliya Police to Nuwara Eliya Magistrate Buddhika Harshani Dharmadasa, a 48-hour detention order has been issued for extensive questioning of the main suspect, his wife, and the local council driver. This highly complex investigation is being conducted under the instructions of Nuwara Eliya District Deputy Inspector General of Police Jagath Chandra Kumara, and directly supervised by Senior Superintendent of Police Samarakoon Banda and Assistant Superintendent of Police Chandana Basnayake. A team of officers, including Nuwara Eliya Headquarters Chief Inspector Chaminda Sanjeewa, Divisional Crime Investigation Branch Chief Inspector Nishantha Bandara, and Crime Investigation Chief Inspector Premalal, will conduct further extensive investigations into the Chief Inspector who aided the murder and other individuals involved.