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Tuesday, 11 August 2015 01:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians
Forensic teams exhumed the body of Wasim Thajudeen at the Dehiwala Muslim burial grounds on orders by a Colombo Court yesterday, as the Criminal Investigation Department continues to dig deeper into the alleged murder-cover up.
The exhumation was supervised by the Colombo Chief Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ajith Tennakoon, after Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris issued an exhumation order when the CID told Court they suspected foul play in Thajudeen’s death in 2012.
“Three specialists will conduct forensic investigations into the body,” Dr. Tennakoon told reporters outside the cemetery, but he refused to say how long the inquiries could take.
The body had been wrapped in plastic and was well preserved, so the exhumation was easy, the Chief JMO said. The forensics expert said that his team would investigate the remains and strive to answer questions posed by Court.
Police are seeking to determine the types of fractures and injuries Thajudeen had suffered, reportedly prior to his death, according to post-mortem reports issued by the JMO.
Asked how he could be certain if the remains exhumed were actually that of the dead rugby player, Dr. Tennakoon said that there was no reason to doubt that.
“The burial spot was shown to us by his family and by cemetery officials, so there is no doubt that these are the remains,” he explained.
Dr. Tennakoon added that there had been no objections from Thajudeen’s family to the exhumation. The UPFA claimed this week that the exhumation was going to take place against the wishes of the victim’s family.
“We asked the family before we undertook the exhumation and they agreed,” Dr. Tennakoon told reporters.
Thajudeen’s body was to be identified by a piece of steel in his knee from an old surgery, Police sources said.
The suspected murder of the star rugby player has rocked the political firmament six days ahead of a crucial Parliamentary election, after reports surfaced that the Presidential Security Division had been involved in the crime, heightening suspicion that the former ruling family may have been involved.
CCTV footage also connected the events of 17 May 2012, the night Thajudeen met his death, to the former VVIP family, after the vehicle involved in the rugby player’s alleged abduction was associated with the Siriliya Saviya Foundation chaired by the former First Lady.
CID sleuths have also grilled a former Lankan diplomat, a young woman believed to have been a former girlfriend of the rugby player and a former VVIP fiancé, for several hours in connection with Thajudeen’s death.
On Sunday, former President and UPFA candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa denied his son’s involvement in the rugby player’s death at a news conference in Colombo. Rajapaksa said the fresh probe into Thajudeen’s death was timed for the election to discredit his candidacy and the party.
Crowds gathered outside the cemetery during the exhumation to protest against former President Rajapaksa and demand justice for Wasim Thajudeen. The demonstrators carried anti-Rajapaksa placards denouncing the crime.
Thajudeen’s body was transported to the Judicial Medical Officer’s office in Colombo under tight security.
Meanwhile, Police Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunesekera told a news conference yesterday that the hand-over of the Thajudeen case to the CID had been delayed because of delays in the Government Analyst report that was finally only released in January this year, nearly three years after the rugby star’s death.
