Police await DNA test results to identify charred remains found in Rattota

Police are reportedly awaiting DNA tests result to ascertain the identity of the charred human remains found in a forest area in Rattota last week, with suspicions linking the remains to a 46-year-old from Wellawaya who had gone missing a week ago. 

A charred dead body has been found at Dombagoda in Rattota police area on the 21st of April.

Rattota Police had received information regarding the charred remains of a person and thereafter the Rattota OIC and a team of officers from the police station rushed to the scene and found a human skull and other parts of a body. 

Accordingly, police had informed the Matale Magistrate and subsequently a magistrate’s inquest in respect of the remains of the body was conducted, police spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said.

In addition to that the consultant judicial medical officer of Matale Hospital had visited the scene the remains had been taken to the mortuary of the hospital for the autopsy, he said. 

He said that the Matale SSP had appointed two special teams in order to conduct further investigations with the first team headed by the OIC of Matale Divisional Crime Detective Bureau and the other headed by the Crimes OIC of Matale Police.

In the meantime, on the 23rd of April an abandoned car has been traced by Anuradhapura Police and thereafter the Anuradhapura HQI has conducted investigations into the incident and the Police Scene of Crime (SOC) officers and fingerprint experts have visited the scene and obtained scientific evidence from the car.

The police teams had conducted further investigations and it was revealed that a 46-year-old person by the name of Rajapaksha Mudiyanselage Thilak Chandana Rajapaksha of Weherayaya in Wellawaya has been missing for a period of around one week.

He had been running a construction company in the Colombo area and was scheduled to open new office at Thalahena in Thalangama police area, DIG Ajith Rohana said today. 

The police teams had visited the new building situated in the Thalahena area and found some blood stains on the floor and the walls of the building, he said. 

Thereafter Thalangama Police had informed Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court today regarding the incident and the Kaduwela Magistrate had visited the scene. 

In Addition to that a request has been made to police by the judicial medical officer to summon the parents of the missing person. Accordingly, the police had informed his parents, who are living in the Athiliwewa area in Wellawaya, to visit the Matale Hospital to conduct a DNA test in respect of the charred remains.

Further investigations are underway by Rattota Police, DCDB Matale, Crime Branch Matale, Anuradhapura Police and Thalangama Police.

“We are not able to say the status of the dead body or the identity of the remains until the scientific evidence proves the fact,” he added.