Shades fashion store is in great demand among the ready-made clothes shops that are spread around the city of Colombo. Shades, which started small in a small space in Rajagiri, is today a textile fashion house that is holding the power of fashion in Rajagiriya, Kotigawatta and Malambe.
This textile shop is run by members of one family. They are the children of the Beedi family in Kittampahuwa, Wellampitiya. The family consists of five sisters and one son, this brother the third in this family and the only male. His name is Roshan Vanninayake.
His dead body was found by the Thalangama police last 02 when he was found dead in the bathtub on the top floor of a spacious three-storey house. According to the investigation done so far on this death, it was established the death is not due to drowning in the swimming pool but a murder.
This house belonged to Roshan. It was recently purchased and was already being renovated as per his requirements. He had decided to move there after all the renovations were completed. It is possible that Roshan, who was unmarried even though he was closer to 50 years of age, had planned to settle here after getting married. He had hinted that even to his close friends.
Roshan’s body was found in a bathtub in a background where he had been missing for several days. His sister went to the Wellampitiya police on the 1st and even made a complaint about it. She had told the Wellampitiya police that she had not yet found any information about her brother who had left his house in Kittampahuwa in car KE 9998 on January 30 at around 5.30 pm.
As the sister informed the police, she called him at around 7.00 pm to inquire about his dinner.
Although there was no response from her brother, he called his sister at around 7.29 pm to inquire about the missed call. There, Roshan told his sister that he would come to have dinner. But as he said, Roshan did not come home. The mobile phone too was switched off by the next day. She has a strong doubt about it. It was because she knew very well that her brother never keeps his phone off. This is why she started looking for her brother’s whereabouts together with other sisters.
Roshan’s sisters did not forget to call even the hermitage in Kaduwela to find out from the monks living there if their brother had come there. That is because Roshan had a close relationship with the hermitage. As he was a meditator even at home whenever he had the opportunity, they may have looked more closely at Roshan, doubting whether their brother shed everything and went to the hermitage to become a monk.
As he was a very close contributor to the hermitage, the monk staying there also started to find out what happened to Roshan with interest at the same time. They even started to tell about this to the top officials of the police who they say they know. All those high officials were advised to file a police complaint about the disappearance. On February 01, Roshan’s sister came to Wellampitiya police and registered a police complaint about her brother’s disappearance.
Roshan’s disappearance did not become another complaint written in the police book because he was known to many people in the society. The Wellampitiya police took special interest in this because he was friendly with the police. Therefore, within the first 12 hours after the complaint about Roshan’s disappearance was registered, the Wellampitiya police discovered that Roshan had booked two air tickets to leave for the UK on the night of the 30th from a credit card in Roshan’s possession.
That’s through on line. Moreover, the Wellampitiya Police also revealed that on the morning of the 31st, some goods were purchased from a superstore at the Bandaranaike International Airport with that credit card. The problem that arose for the Wellampitiya police officers was whether Roshan had even gone on an overseas tour without telling anyone. Roshan’s body was found in the swimming pool of the house in Pelawatte when the Wellampitiya police officers were preparing to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
Officers from various departments including crime scene investigation officers came to this house in Pelawatte that day. Roshan’s dead body was already in the swimming pool, bloated like a balloon. At first glance, the police found that he had died a few days ago. He was naked, as well as the clothes he was wearing when he left his home in Kittampahuwa on the evening of the 30th, were found near the scene. It did not show any signs of forced undressing.
The evidence that Roshan’s death was not due to drowning in the swimming pool, but a murder, was clear to the police investigators due to several blood stains seen around the bathtub. It was not difficult for the investigators to grasp the signs that Roshan was dragged along the floor and thrown into the swimming pool through careful investigation. According to that, the investigators started to speculate that Roshan was killed by a blow to his head and the body was dumped in the bathtub.
Those who know Roshan say that he was a quiet humble person who lived a righteous life. His neighbours in Kittampahuwa still say that Roshan, was born to a family which was in poverty, never forgot his roots when he rose to become a giant in the business world.
After digging up for information from the neighbours about the history of Roshan’s family, it appears that Roshan’s father was a person who fed the five children of that family, including Roshan, by collecting newspapers and selling them. Meanwhile, Roshan’s father earned extra income by wrapping beedi because it was not possible to feed five children only by selling bottles and newspapers. Returning home from school, Roshan and his sisters helped their father in beedi wrapping.
It was a common sight for the people of Kittampahuwa to see Roshan’s father carrying on a bicycle the beedi placed on a plate. That’s why Roshan’s main house is still called the beedi house.
Roshan and his sisters lived in this small hut made of tar sheets. The roof of that hut was so low that it touched the head. House was with clay soil. Roshan and his sisters, who slept on the clay floor on a mat which was used as a bed, however overcame life as a result of immense courage. They never gave up on education because it was impossible. They had reached up to the maximum level in school education. They wore only available clothes to school washing and wearing them cleanly.
It is said that the turning point of this family is the elder sister. She is educated in accountancy and is a Chartered Accountant. It is also said that she has been working for some time as the head of an accounting department in a garment factory. Roshan enters the garment industry by taking the tender of discarded cloths from the garment factory. He is encouraged by his elder sister.
Roshan who took the pieces of cloth and sold them to cloth shops. The family members including Roshan, who developed this business day by day, built their hut with cement, put some sewing machines in it and established a small garment factory at home, taking a leap forward as a businessman. Soon, Roshan, who started a small ready-made clothing store, expanded it under the brand name Shades, acquiring a reputation in the ready-made clothing industry.
Roshan is mysteriously killed when he is taking his business to the pinnacle of development by challenging the giants of the ready-made garments industry.
The investigations into Roshan’s death so far have not revealed that this was a murder over a business dispute. A woman is believed to have been with Roshan when he died. The suspicion arises because of his naked body and some contraceptives found near the swimming pool. One of those contraceptives has been used. Investigation will direct a DNA to ascertain whether the used contraceptive is used by him or is it a subterfuge.
The investigators were able to identify the pharmacy where these condoms were purchased within a few hours of finding the dead body. It was through a bill that was found lying near the swimming pool. According to this, these birth control sheaths were purchased from a pharmacy in Kalubowila. It was around 3.30 pm on the 30th. When the investigators went to the pharmacy and checked the security camera system, it was found that a package containing three contraceptive sheaths was bought by a couple who paid 1000 rupees that day.
The security camera data also revealed that the woman was beautiful like a Hindi actress. Although the investigators were not able to clearly reveal how the couple came to the pharmacy, the investigators clearly revealed that they came directly from there to Pelawatta in a telephone network analysis. It was through a mobile phone number that was retrieved from Roshan’s mobile phone.
The investigators speculate that the couple entered the house in Pelawatte on the evening of the 30th with Roshan. Accordingly, it is also believed that while coming from Kittampahuwa, Roshan picked the couple up in his car from some place in Pelawatte and brought them home. Roshan’s death happens during the couple’s stay at the house. After the death of Roshan, the investigators have already found information that the couple spent at least an hour and a half at home through their analysis. They took possession of the 04 credit cards in Roshan’s wallet and used one of them to buy two air tickets. But not to United Kingdom as it was initially revealed, by the Wellampitiya police but to Indonesia.
These two air tickets are also booked through online system. It appears that the flight tickets were booked on the night of the 30th. By accessing the Internet through Roshan’s mobile phone, accessing the relevant airline ticket company’s website. On that day, the couple booked two seats on the first flight from Katunayaka to Indonesia early in the morning on the 31st.
Between midnight of the 30th and the morning of the 31st, the two got out of the Pelawatte house and got into Roshan’s car. From there they come directly to the Katunayake highway. Entering the expressway from Orugudawatte, they could not reach Ja-Ala canal. They had to stop the car approaching Ja-Ala entrance because the engine of the car was overheating and faulty. They call 1969 for help in take the car out of the highway. It was around 1.30 in the morning. The call is made from Roshan’s mobile phone number.
A highway emergency department vehicle arrives there and takes the car away from the Ja-Ala entrance along with the couple. While going, the two of them asked the driver of the emergency vehicle for the number of another emergency vehicle to take the vehicle to a garage. The couple called the vehicle and brought the emergency vehicle to the Ja-Ala entrance and took it to a garage located on Joseph de Silva Mawatha, Negambo. Leaving the car on the road near the garage, the couple boarded the emergency vehicle and traveled to Kurana Junction. The emergency vehicle payments are settled at that location.
Of the Rs 15,000 emergency car fare, Rs 10,000 paid in cash. The remaining Rs.5000 paid online to the bank account of the owner of the accident car. The payment made through Roshan’s mobile phone. According to investigations, this transaction took place around 3.00 am.
During the journey from Ja-Ala to Negombo and during the journey from Negombo to Kurana, the couple behaviour raised doubts about them to the driver whether the two are citizens of this country or foreigners. It was because they could not pronounce the Sinhala language properly when they were talking to the driver. But they were fluent in English.
According to that, the investigating officers suspected that the couple were foreigners, or else they belonged to a different social class than the Sinhalese society, but the final conclusion of the investigating officers was that the couple belonged to a non-Sinhalese ethnic group who are citizens of this country.
In order to reveal these things, the investigating officers had to work tirelessly and engage in an operation since they found Roshan’s dead body on the 2nd. As a result, even Roshan’s car, which was left on the road in front of the garage in Negombo, was found in the morning of the 3rd. In the meantime, the investigators did not forget to find out in which direction the suspect couple who got off at Kurana from the ‘disaster car’ fled.
It appears that a few minutes later they also landed at a super shopping complex in the Bandaranaike International Airport. There, 300 rupees or thereabouts are paid for two bottles of water with Roshan’s credit card.
At that time, these people had used three of Roshan’s 04 credit cards, making a transaction amounting to 09 lakh rupees within a period of 05 hours. Along with the expenses incurred to book the air tickets. The couple arrived at the airport with plans to board a flight to Malaysia that morning and flee the country. The couple entered the airport and were about to board a flight, but the question remains whether they actually fled the country. If the couple had not fled the country, they would not have been able to run away from the police for much longer.