Sat, Aug 8, 2015,
Aug 08, Colombo: In a new turn of evidence uncovered during the investigation into the murder of the Sri Lankan national rugby player Wasim Thajudeen police have linked the vehicle used for the abduction of the player before his death to the former Sri Lankan First Lady's Shiranthi Rajapaksa's 'Siriliya' charity.The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police is investigating the murder of Thajudeen, who was killed in an apparent accident in 2012.
Thajudeen died on May 17, 2012 in Kirulapone when his car crashed into a wall and caught fire.
Earlier it was ruled as an accidental death but the recent investigations by the CID had found that the player was abducted and brutally tortured before his death with blunt and sharp weapons.
The latest evidence uncovered has found that the Defender vehicle used to abduct Thajudeen shortly before he was murdered was in the possession of the Siriliya Foundation, Economynext.com reports.
Technical evidence led CID investigators to trace this vehicle to the local NGO which claimed that they had gifted the vehicle in question to Shiranthi Rajapaksa's Siriliya Foundation.
According to the report, police investigations have found that Mrs. Rajapaksa's charity has acquired two vehicles from a local NGO and changed the color of one of the vehicles to black. It was this black vehicle that had been used in the killing.
The Government Analyst's report on Thajudeen's death was released this February, two years after his death, only after the new government began asking questions about the cover up of the case.
Following new analysis on Judicial Medical Officer's report the CID made a request to the court to exhume the body in order to obtain an analytical report on the bone fractures on Thajudeen's body and the court gave the go-ahead to exhume the body on Monday.
The police expect to make an imminent arrest on the rugby player's murder, the report said.
