Former Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Shani Abeysekara and Sub-inspector Sugath Mendis have been discharged from the Gampaha Magistrate’s Court proceedings pertaining to a case involving ex-DIG Vaas Gunawardena.
According to reporters, the Gampaha Magistrate today discharged all four suspects, following submissions made by the Attorney General’s Department and counsel on behalf of the suspects, and despite objections by the Colombo Crimes Division.
Shani Abeysekara, the former senior superintendent of police who headed the CID, is accused of fabricating evidence in the case against former DIG Vaas Gunawardena, his son and four other police officers.
DIG Vaas Gunawardena was convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of Colombo-based businessman Mohamed Shiyam as a contract killing for $50,000 in May 2013.
Abeysekara was arrested in July 2020 and was charged under the Offensive Weapons Act and Explosives Devices Act for fabricating evidence in the investigation related to former DIG Vaas Gunawardena. (NewsWire)