Main suspect linked to female body found in travelling bag arrested

The main suspect allegedly involved in the incident of the female body found inside a travelling bag abandoned at a garbage dump in Sapugaskanda has been arrested.

According to the police, the suspect was taken into custody while hiding inside a house in Wellampitiya today (November 09).

The suspect was identified as the brother of the victim’s friend, who had purportedly aided the murder.

Following the murder, he had fled the area with cash and jewellery that belonged to the victim.

On November 04, a body was found inside a travelling bag, with hands and feet tied, in a garbage dump in the proximity of Sapugaskanda oil refinery. The discovery was made following information received by Sapugaskanda Police Station from an individual regarding the suspicious bag.

The body of the woman, clad in red and black clothing and with her hands and feet tied, had been found inside the bag which was reportedly wrapped in a mat. It was in a heavily decomposed state when found and investigators believe the victim may have died around 5 days prior to the discovery. 

The remains were revealed to be that of a 44-year-old woman named Mohamed Mumtaz who was residing in Maligawatta flats. It was identified by the victim’s husband and two children.

Two days later, a married couple, aged 36 and residents of Samithpura in Mattakkuliya, was arrested after they confessed to killing the woman in question.

The confession came after the victim’s friend, one of the suspects who made the confession, gave an account of the events leading up to the disappearance of the victim, which did not correspond with CCTV footage.

Preliminary investigations found that Mumtaz had gotten into a three-wheeler with a friend on October 28 from Maligawatta area.

Later, Mumtaz’ friend in question, 36-year-old Siththi Roshana, was questioned by the police, during which she said that Mumtaz went to Lellama area after getting off in the area of Modara.

After checking the CCTV footage, the police confirmed that Roshana’s narrative contradicted the actual footage.

Thereby, the police moved to arrest both Roshana and her husband for questioning.

During the interrogations, the couple confessed to killing Mumtaz. They revealed that Mumtaz was taken to their residence in Mattakkuliya where she was strangled and beaten to death. It also came to light that Roshana’s own brother had aided the murder. 

The couple further divulged that they put the remains of the deceased into a travelling bag on and dumped it at a garbage dump in the area of October 29.

They also confessed to having used a lorry and a three-wheeler to move the remains of the murder victim.