Police teams investigating the suicide of the ex-Army intelligence officer Ilandarage Jayamanne on Friday, are now inquiring why he had stated the name of the suspect, now in remand custody for the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga, as Malinda Udalagama whereas the name of the suspect is Premananda Udalagama alias Ananda Udalagama. The ex-Army intelligence officer who hanged himself on Friday morning with a nylon rope, had left a letter saying that he was responsible for the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunga and that his friend Malinda Udalagama should be released. Police teams probing the incident are wondering whether the letter is genuine, and if he was indeed a close friend of the suspect in custody as he claims, why he had written his name as Malinda Udalagama. According to Police sources, two Police teams from the Kegalle Police Division and a team from the Criminal Investigation Department have launched investigations into the death of the ex-Army intelligence man.
The letter stating that he had committed the murder, was found on his waist.
He had requested that the letter be handed over to the Intelligence Unit, Police sources said.
“Investigations are now on to find out whether it was really written by him or by some else,” a senior Police officer of the Kegalle Police Division said.
During the inquest into the death of the ex-Army intelligence officer, the elder son of the deceased, Chathura Jayamanne, had said that the letter was in his father’s handwriting.
The inquest into the death on Friday evening by Kegalle Judicial Medical Officer Romesh Alagiyawanna has stated the death had occurred due to the blockade of respiratory system from the neck due to hanging from a nylon rope.
A trishaw driver had found the body of the 52-year-old ex-Army intelligence officer hanging from a rope in the kitchen of his residence at Dehipitiya Road, Karandupane, Kegalle around 8 a.m. on Friday. Jayamanne had committed suicide after taking one of his sons to the airport to attend a sports event in India and another son to school.
According to Police sources, Jayamanne had retired from the Army in 2007 and had been a suspect in the Athurugiriya Millennium City case.