It has been revealed from the investigations carried out so far regarding Mr. Shafter’s murder that a text message was sent from the mobile phone of Mr. Dinesh Shafter, the director of Janashakti Company, to the mobile phone of Mr. Brian Thomas, the cricket announcer, after Mr. Shafter became a victim of criminals at the Borella Public Cemetery.
Accordingly, it has become clear that the text message was sent to the mobile phone of Mr. Brian Thomas by the killer of Mr. Dinesh Shafter.
Also, investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department have revealed that the car, in which Mr. Dinesh Shafter, the director of Janashakti Company, traveled from his residence in Kurunduwatta flower road on the 15th, went directly to the Borella Public Cemetery.
The investigative teams of the Criminal Investigation Department speculate that Mr. Dinesh Shafter left home at around 2.06 pm and that this crime was committed within half an hour or so after leaving home.
From the time Mr. Dinesh Shafter left his home, it was found that his car had come directly to the Borella Public Cemetery in the analysis of his route security camera data. A senior officer of the Criminal Investigation Department said that further investigations are underway as to whether a person boarded the car on the way or whether he went to the cemetery with the expectation of meeting a person. Observing the location of the place where the car was brought into the cemetery and stopped, it appears that someone who has a good understanding of the Borella Public Cemetery is involved in this crime.
Cricket commentator Brian Thomas, who is in a dispute with Mr. Dinesh Shafter regarding a financial transaction, received a text message from Mr. Dinesh Shafter’s mobile phone saying ‘I will wait for you’ while Mr. Dinesh Shafter’s car was entered at the Borella Public Cemetery. Investigations have shown. A senior police official said that it is suspected that the message was probably sent from Mr. Dinesh Shafter’s mobile phone by the person or group of people who called him to the place and committed the crime. The doubt has arisen because the text message was sent after 2.30 pm. There is a suspicion that these murder planners tried to bring Mr. Brian Thomas to the place and frame him for this crime. Mr. Brian Thomas replied to that text message saying, “I have nothing to do with you. Investigations have also revealed that a short message with the meaning “I don’t want to meet you” was sent in English.
Police sources revealed that the two mobile phones of Mr. Brian Thomas and Mr. Dinesh Shafter, where the messages were exchanged, were taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department and forwarded to the Computer Forensic Laboratory and a lot of information has been uncovered in this regard. Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police Attorney at law Mr. Nihal Talduwa mentioned that even the security camera system in the house of Mr. Brian Thomas has been investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department. He said that so far no information has been revealed that Mr. Brian Thomas was away from home during the time of the murder or that he was involved in this crime. Mr. Nihal Talduwa said that the officers of the Organized Crime and Homicide Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department, which is conducting the investigation into this murder, have obtained statements from 23 people.
Mr. Nihal Talduwa said that among them are several family members of Mr. Dinesh Shafter as well as several employees of Borella Cemetery. Mr. Nihal Talduwa also mentioned that investigations are being carried out based on security camera and phone analysis as well as eyewitness testimony. He says that this investigation is conducted through several aspects. Mr. Nihal Talduwa said that as Mr. Dinesh Shafter was a businessman as well as someone who had contacts with various fields, attention has been paid to all those aspects in the investigations. Mr. Nihal Talduwa said that investigations are also underway to see if there were any complaints against Mr. Dinesh Shafter or people who had a dispute with him.
But Mr. Nihal Talduwa mentioned that there is no such disclosure so far. Mr. Nihal Talduwa said that investigations are currently underway based on many scientific and technical evidences and the police hope to conduct investigations and arrest the suspects as soon as possible. A senior police officer said that Mr. Dinesh Shafter left home on the day of the crime and told his wife that he was going to Borella, so further information is to be sought from her. Until the last rites of Mr. Dinesh Shafter’s body are done, the police have not made further inquiries about this death from the family. The official also said that since the last rites of the body were done yesterday, they will start the work from tomorrow.
Mr. Dinesh Shafter’s wife had initially told the police that her husband left the house saying that he would come in half an hour. When exactly half an hour had passed, she made a phone call to her husband and when he did not respond, she became upset she was asked at length if there was any threat to her husband, the Criminal Investigation Department revealed.
In the investigations, special attention has been paid to the fact that Mr. Dinesh Shafter has directed the facility of his phone to his business partner in addition to his wife. The business associate, who is a company director, told the police that Mr. Dinesh Shafter was going to meet Brian Thomas.
He is also the first to meet Mr. Dinesh Shafter, who was a victim of criminals. According to Mr. Brian Thomas text message he received from Mr. Dinesh Shafter about such a meeting at or around 2.30 that day. Investigations have revealed that Mr. Dinesh Shafter actually left home to meet Brian Thomas, he would not have sent him a text message from Borella Public Cemetery and he, being a busy businessman, would book his appointments well in advance. It has been found that the text message was sent from the mobile phone of Mr. Dinesh Shafter to the phone of Mr. Brian Thomas and from the telephone signal towers around the Borella Cemetery.
“He has been killed by an enemy. “We are looking into every field to find out about the enemy,” said Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police Attorney at law Nihal Talduwa. According to the information of the Criminal Investigation Department, the investigations into the murder of Mr. Dinesh Shafter now taking place in a new twist than the previous situation and many suspicious details are being revealed regarding this murder. Sources of the Criminal Investigation Department said that the information is currently being verified.
The Criminal Investigation Department further revealed that after that confirmation, many unimaginable incidents will be revealed. In relation to the investigation regarding this murder, 42 CCTV cameras on the road from his house to the cemetery have also been examined.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe and
Bandaragama Bimal Jayasinghe