• Court orders CID to present foursome including Borella Cemetery watchers and first respondent cop to Govt. Analyst

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) yesterday (14) informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya that the Government Analyst (GA) has informed that the body of deceased Janashakthi PLC Director Dinesh Schaffter contained deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples belonging to an unidentified individual.

Accordingly, to investigate whose DNA samples were found, the Additional Magistrate ordered the CID to present four persons, including the watchmen of the Borella General Cemetery and a police officer who had first visited the place where Schaffter was found in his car, to the Government Analyst. The Government Analyst has also informed the CID to present those who have been identified as suspects in the incident or have first visited the place where the deceased was found at the Borella General Cemetery to the Government Analyst’s Department.

If any body parts of the deceased have been placed in the custody of the Chief Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) – Colombo or the Government Analyst as samples, Additional Magistrate Jayasuriya ordered the said Chief JMO and the Government Analyst to preserve such and to not destroy them for any reason until such direction is made by the court.

The water bottle found in the vehicle of the deceased at the time of the incident, the wires using which his hands had been tied, and the tape found tied around his neck had been referred to the Government Analyst, and the CID informed the court that it had received the report on the said material as of yesterday.

The Additional Magistrate also issued an order to the Director of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo to immediately submit to the court the reports of the tests which were carried out when Schaffter was admitted to the Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) of the NHSL on 15 December 2022.

The Chief JMO – Colombo and the relevant Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) of the Borella Police were ordered by Jayasuriya to submit to the court the photographs taken before and after the post-mortem of the deceased, along with any relevant footage, if those moments were videotaped.

The orders were issued as per the request made by President’s Counsel (PC) Anuja Premaratne appearing on behalf of the family of the deceased in the latter’s inquest when the case was taken up through a motion yesterday.

Schaffter died at the NHSL in Colombo on 15 December 2022 after being found tied to the driver’s seat of his vehicle with a wire wound around his neck. He had left home that afternoon, according to a statement made by his wife, to attend a meeting and had not returned home. His wife had located Schaffter near the Borella Cemetery via Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking. One of Schaffter’s employees, Patrick Chris Perera had then immediately arrived at the scene, following which he had taken Schaffter to the NHSL. The NHSL confirmed the same night that Schaffter had passed away upon admission.

Meanwhile, Premaratne PC, on 9 February, informed Additional Magistrate Jayasuriya that the post-mortem report of Schaffter submitted by Colombo JMO Ruhul Haq contained contradictory findings. As the investigation officers informed the court that investigations into the murder are yet to be completed, the Additional Magistrate postponed the announcement of the decision with regard to the death inquest.