Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris today ordered EPDP leader and former Minister Douglas Devananda to submit the storage hard disks of the CCTV records of an office located in Park Street Colombo 5 on May 16, 2012.

Devananda is to handover the recordings to the CID before March 10.

This order was given after considering a request made by the CID.

Thajudeen's body was found on the early hours of March 17, 2012, in his vehicle near the Shalika Grounds. Although it was then thought to be an accident, recent investigations have uncovered that he was murdered.

The University of Colombo School of Computing experts who analysed the CCTV footage pertaining to the murdered former rugby player Wasim Thajudeen's vehicle filed their report with Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris today.

The experts said that they were handed over recordings of CCTV footage from cameras in Narahenpita and Kirulapone on the night Thajudeen was murdered.

Although a vehicle similar to Thajudeen's could be seen in the footage, they were unable to identify the human figures or the license plate of the vehicle, the UCSC said. The lights of the vehicle and the camera angle made it difficult to figure out the details, the report further pointed out.

Therefore, the UCSC recommended that the CCTV footage should be sent for expert forensic analysis in a forensic laboratory such as the FBI Laboratory Service in the USA, the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Canada or the Metropolitan Police Service in the UK.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris, who handles the magisterial inquiry on the death of former Sri Lanka rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, has been given an extension of term of office.

The Judicial Services Commission informed Additional Magistrate Peiris of the decision to extend his term of office for one more year.

Meanwhile, Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya was also given an extension of one year at his present position.Piplapitiya also presides over a number of cases with regard to the conduct of top echelons of the previous government.

Therefore, both the Colombo Chief Magistrate Pilapitiya and Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris will remain in their positions till December 31, 2016.

The Judicial Services Commission recently decided to review the transfers of Pilapitiya and Peiris in the wake of concerns raised by the country's legal fraternity.

The Commission, headed by Chief Justice K. Sripavan, received a number of complaints that the transfers of Pilapitiya and Pieris will severely affect some important cases against certain top-brass members of the previous government.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris today ordered the CID to probe former Senior DIG Anura Senanayake and the former Narahenpita OIC regarding their conduct over the murder of Wasim Thajudeen.

This order was given considering information given to the court by the lawyers of Thajudeen's family.

Accordingly, Anura Senanayake had summoned Thajudeen's father several days after the death and told him that it was an accident. There was nothing that can be done, Senanayke had told Thajudeen's father.

Meanwhile, the Narahenpita Police had issued a report, saying that the death occurred due to an accident.

However, it was recently established by a panel of judicial medical experts that Thajudeen's death was not an accident but an act of homicide.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris today ordered the Chairman of Sri Lanka Medical Council and Director General of Health to investigate on different claims made by former Colombo JMO Ananda Samarasekara and two minor staff members.

Samarasekara said that in May 2012, he had assigned two minor staff members to securely keep some bone parts from Thajudeen’s body. However, the two minor staff members claim that they were given no such task.

Meanwhile, the CID was also ordered to look into the different claims.

Furthermore, it was informed to the court that some CCTV footage had been recovered from the day of the incident in May 2012. It shows a car similar to that of Thajudeen’s being followed by a few vehicles, the court was told. However, the number plates were not adequately clear to make undeniable identification, it was informed.

The court ordered the UCSC to submit a report on the findings of the CCTV footage from Narahenpita and Kirillapone junctions in 14 days. The UCSC was directed to inform the court and request for additional time if needed. Similarly, the UCSC could obtain assistance of foreign expertise if needed, after informing the court, the Additional Magistrate directed.

Meanwhile, CID informed the court that Dialog Axiata was cooperating with the investigation in a more positive manner than before. The Additional Magistrate also commended on the conduct of the company. Dialog Axiata informed court that they have been wrongly portrayed by certain media and asked the court to make a directive against such reporting. However, the Additional Magistrate commended the role of the media and said that its role helped the investigation to move forward.

Former Sri Lankan diplomat Sepala Ratnayake's name has been mentioned in connection with the investigation into the death of former Rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, top Police sources told Asian Mirror. 

Ratnayake, who was attached to the Sri Lankan mission in London, had allegedly assisted one of the suspects of Thajudeen's case to escape to London, the source further added. 

In the news item aired on the state- run ITN at the time, the child claimed that Maithripala Sirisena, who was the Common Candidate of the Opposition at the time, was detaining his mother. 

This incident led to legal action involving eight suspects including some high profile officials including Ratnayake.

It transpired in court  that an Interpol ‘red warrant’ had been issued against the former diplomat.

Ratnayake is known to be a close ally of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The DNA reports confirmed that the remains exhumed on August 10 were those of former Havelocks Captain Wasim Thajudeen, Genetech informed Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris today.

The report filed with the court said that Fathima Fareeza Thajudeen is the biological mother of the individual whose DNA is in the piece of the bone with muscle attached from the first post mortem.

Furthermore, the report said that the piece of bone with muscle attachment of the first post mortem, the tested ribs taken from exhumed skeletal remains on August 10, 2015, and Fathima Fareeza Thajudeen cannot be excluded as originating from the same maternal lineage.

The remains of former national ruggerite and Havelock's SC captain Wasim Thajudeen were reburied at the Dehiwela Mosque today with the participation of close relatives.

Thajudeen's remains were exhumed on August 10 following a magisterial order at the request of the CID.

Thajudeen died in 2012 in what was then described as an accident. However, the CID recently told the courts that his death is no accident.

Former Judicial Medical Officer Professor Ananda Samarasekera submitting his final autopsy report in court stated that the death of Mohamed Wasim Thajudeen was due to unconsciousness, disability of limbs and inhalation of carbon monoxide gas emitted from the fire.

He maintained that the injuries were not lethal and the cause of death was carbon monoxide inhalation.

The detailed report stated that at the time of the inception of the fire he was alive but unconscious and totally disabled for he was breathing till his death.

The report says that the there was high level of ethanol in the blood of the deceased and he would have consumed it during the interval of 2 hours prior to the incident.

The report says a habitual alcoholic could drive a vehicle partially impaired even after a heavy drink of alcohol.

The former JMO said that the injuries on head of the deceased could possibly be due to blow from a blunt weapon while he was inside or outside the vehicle.

He also says the deceased could have been pulled out by someone from the vehicle or he could have fallen off the vehicle and could have been assaulted fracturing his limbs

He also states the injuries to the chest could have been caused by a circular object pushing on chest.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris directed the University of Colombo School of Computing to submit an analytical report on Wasim Thajudeen's mobile phone, which was recovered recently.The investigators hope that the phone memory might reveal some crucial information regarding the death of the former Havelock's SC Captain.

The phone was recovered from Agarapathana area in Nuwaraeliya recently.

Meanwhile, the lawyers representing the aggrieved party expressed their displeasure at the former Colombo JMO who conducted the post-mortem initially. He must do his duty rather than give statements to the media, the lawyers pointed out.

The final post-mortem report was to be submitted to the court by today. However, it has not been submitted to date.