Son identified from a scar on the burning leg ,Punishment for police chief who was involved in murder ....during 89 terror!

Murderers of most innocent victims who were killed in the 1989 terror period were not convicted. But after a court verdict which was passed yesterday after a period of 24 years the killers of a schoolboy who was taken for questioning under suspicion of having connections with the JVP at that time were given punishment for having committed such a murder.

During that period, Roshan de Silva who presently holds a high position as the director of the Colombo Crime Division and was serving Horana Police and two other police officers  at that time were subjected to punishment in this instance. It is a special feature to note that it was possible to prove that the said murder was committed by them because of a scar observed on one of the legs of the deceased student's leg.

Janith Nalaka Perera the deceased student had been a student of Horana Royal College. The police had suspected that he had been involved in organising terror activities during that period by being connected to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and being engaged in grouping schools in Horana area. This student who was supposed to be someone who was of the aggressive type dismissed instructions and advice of his parents too and continued with those activities and even brushed aside the threats that came his way. 

In the meantime one day the Investigation Unit of the Panadura Police had come to his house when he was in and had taken him into custody saying that he had to be interrogated. That was in the month of December in 1989. His parents had even gone to visit him when he was being questioned when detained at Panadura Police Station. In the meantime the defendant police officers of Horana Police had come to Panadura Police and taken him away to Horana Police . This was notified to his parents. 

People in the area had noticed the body of this student who was taken away on June 15th in 1990 burning that same night around 12.00 in the night in Horana area and the student's father who was a retired police officer had come to that spot and had extinguished the fire. What was left of the corpse was a half-burnt part of a leg. As it was possible to identify a scar of an old wound his mother was able to identify that the burning body belonged to her son. Later that part of the leg was buried in a closeby cemetery and they had complained to the IGP saying that the police officers who took their son away are responsible for this death. Though a team of officers from the special investigation unit of police headquarters had come to Horana and started an inquiry, since most incidents were put under the carpet those days, in the same way investigation in this regard too was not carried out in an effective manner.

Whatever it is, according to the investigation report of the special police team who took down statements from the dead boy's parents and the neighbours the Attorney-General forwarded an indictment against the present police superintendent who was then the officer-in-charge of the crime division of Horana Police and the three police sergeants as well and had filed action at Panadura High Courts in this connection. And that was for having committed an offence of homicide under clause 296 of the penal code.

Though the hearing of that case was taken up without proper regularity, these officers were found guilty after 24 years. During that process, in the meantime the present police superintendent Roshan de Silva who served at that time in the crime division as the officer-in-charge of Horana Police has now been promoted to a high rank.  

Police Superintendent Roshan de Silva, the sergeants Deepthi Shantha and Mudiyanselage Jayasena the three defendants were yesterday sentenced to jail each for 8 years' rigorous imprisonment as punishment.