Sri Lanka Police today revealed that the main suspect in the abduction and murder of the businessman from Bambalapitiya was an employee of the victim and that the abductors had not planned on killing Mohamed Sulaiman. 

Briefing reporters in Colombo regarding the investigation, DIG Ajith Rohana said that five individuals were involved the abduction that night and that they had arrived from Mattakkuliya in a rented car.

We have also uncovered that the deposit for the rental was paid using the cash received after pawning the gold jewelry belonging to the main suspect’s wife, he said. 

The main suspect has been identified as Fakeer Aslam Mohamed Fasil, who had been serving as an assistant in charge of handling money at a business owned by the victim. He has been working there for around 8 years and he knows that millions of rupees are exchanged, Rohana said. 

Therefore he had hatched a plan to kidnap his employer and demand a ransom of Rs 20 million, he said. 

All five suspects are from Aduruppuweediya, Sedawatta and areas close to Colombo and almost all of them work as Nattamai, men who make a living by transporting various goods, while one of them is a three-wheel driver, the DIG said.

He stated that the suspects had not intended to release the businessman once they received the ransom, however due to the resistance from the victim when they attempted to put him inside the vehicle, he was hit on the head with the hilt of a machete causing him to fall. 

After this incident, the suspects had discovered that the businessman had died on the way and that is why they decided to dump the body at the location, he added.