By – Shantha Wijesooriya

26-year-old Muthuwadige Sathsara Nimesh, a resident of Meegahakivule, Badulla, has died while in the custody of the Welikada Police in Rajagiriya. Nimesh was arrested by the police claiming he forcibly entered a house located at No. 30, Sri Rathana Jyothi Road, Nawala and was behaving in a disorderly manner, Welikada Police OIC Chinthaka Anuradha told the sky news journalist. 

Nimesh was arrested by the Welikada Police at around 9.30 pm on April 1. Police say that he was kept in the Welikada Police cell that night and was later admitted to the Angoda Mental Hospital after behaving in a boisterous manner. Doctors at the hospital say that Nimesh was dead when he was taken to the Angoda Hospital.

Nimesh’s admission to the mental hospital

Nimesh’s mothers sister told us that a doctor at the hospital said that Nimesh was dead when he was taken to the Angoda Hospital. When your son was brought to the hospital, his temperature was still high. We tried to give him artificial respiration and regain consciousness, but that attempt failed. Nimesh’s mother told us that a Tamil doctor at the Angoda Hospital told her.

Police arrest Nimesh Satsara

The OIC of Welikada Police says that Nimesh, who was arrested at 9.30 pm, was admitted to the Angoda mental hospital around 11 pm. He had come to Colombo from Badulla to study a course on nursing. Nimesh had followed the course at the Lanka Hospital Institute in Narahenpita. He had been living at the Rathana Arama Viharaya on Kalinga Road in Polhengoda.

Rathana Thero dismisses drug charges against Sathsara

In December 2024, Nimesh paid Rs. 12000 per month for a room at the Rathana Arama Viharaya. When we went to the temple and inquired, Rathana Thero said that Nimesh paid Rs. 12,000 per month to get a room because he had to study and that two people were allowed to stay in a room. Thero further said that it’s been three and a half months since this child came to the temple and he was a modest child who doesn’t talk much.  The police said that the child was an innocent child and that the police were saying that the child was using drugs.

On April 1, at 11 am, the son called and said that the rent for the temple room was too high and he would go and find a cheaper room. On the same day, at 3 pm, he called and said that he found a room with a kitchen and the rent was Rs. 7,000.  He said the uncle of the house told that it is the aunty who decides to rent the room or not and the uncle told him to wait till aunty comes home. Then again this child called me again at 8 pm and he sounded agitated. 

Don’t hit my son son, please chain him and keep 

When Nimesh’s mother called his phone again, it was a police officer who had spoken and said your son is struggling and it was difficult to control him. Nimesh’s mother said to the police officer not to hit my son but please chain him up,  I will come tomorrow morning from Badulla.

When the police officer said that he cannot do that, Nimesh’s mother has told the police officer “I will not do anything against you all sir” said Nimesh’s mother Leanage Samanthi to us. 

CID can find out whether Nimesh came from Polhengoda to Nawala Sri Rathana Jothi Mawatha in the evening to find a room through Facebook or through another friend or broker or for some other reason through the technology of telephone towers. The telephone conversations and SMS messages he made between three and eight in the evening are important here. It is important to know whether the owner of house number 30 on Sri Rathana Jothi Mawatha had spoken to Nimesh or he had spoken to Nimesh before the incident. No building has been constructed on land number 30 and a temporary wooden shed has been built. He is the landlord of both assessment number 30 and 29. The landlord is residing at number 29 and has built a two-storey house on it. The assessment number 30 is found after 44. But no house numbers written in the walls of 30 or number 29. 

The numbers of other houses on Rathana Jyothi Mawatha were written on their walls. A wall about 8 feet high has been built around this land and the house, and another wall about 12 feet high has been built to separate the land and the house, and a gate has been placed in the middle of the wall to allow access to both sides. A cctv camera had been fixed to cover the land and the house.

CCTV footage proves Nimish did not jump from the wall

According to Chamara who was doing some construction work behind the number 29 house told the writer 

“He jumped from the wall and came wearing grey trousers and a black T-shirt. He was carrying a black bag, was sitting on the table, then went under the table and sat on the table again. He said his grandmother had died and he wanted to go home, he behaved like a demon possessed, took his wallet and showed us his ID. The ID stated he was from Badulla. He also had a bank card. He had a smartphone and another small phone. He was wearing shorts under his long trousers. Then we called 119, four police officers came and took the suspect away at around 9.30pm” 

Chamara is a resident of Embilipitiya. The owner of the house did not show much interest and asked the writer ” will there be any trouble for us from the police” 

“The police checked the CCTV cameras at my house. The owner of the house said, without questioning the writer, that although there were videos of this person walking in front of Rathana Jyothi Mawatha at around 8 pm and returning after 15 minutes, there was no footage of him jumping into his garden or house”

Nimesh was assaulted at Sri Ranatha Jyothi house

It is extremely important for investigators to find out whether Nimesh came to Rathana Jyothi Mawatha to find a room or for some other purpose. The only way to find out that Nimesh jumped into house number 30 because a three-wheeler was chasing him is true is to check every CCTV camera after number 30.

When the owner of number 30 was asked about his name and occupation, he said that he works in a private company, but he did not tell his name. The owner of the house had taken a photograph of Nimesh at the time of the incident. Nimesh’s mother said that Nimesh’s neck was broken in that photograph. She told the writer that the photograph was shown to her by the OIC of Welikada Police. Later, on April 6th, I went to Rathana Jyothi Mawatha for the second time to request that photo and rang the bells at numbers 29 and 30, but the owner of the house did not come out.

Ask the gentleman who I am

When Nimesh was in the custody of the landlord of house number 30, Thenuka Gamage, a friend of Nimesh, had called him on the phone at around 8.03 pm and the friend had heard a chaotic sound. He heard Nimesh’s voice in the background shouting “I am not a thief , i am not a thief, please call the police, then you understand, please ask this gentleman” 

Subsequently Nimesh’s friend had called Nimesh’s mother and informed this incident.  

Nimesh’s mother told us that Nimesh’s friend told her to check whether there is a problem with Nimesh .

Again Nimesh’s friend Gamage called Nimesh’s phone again but Nimesh did not answer and only a sound was heard in the background. Nimesh’s mother had called Nimesh’s phone at around 8.07 pm and she had heard Nimesh saying “Mom, I am going to die, I am being taken to the police”Nimesh’s mother told us.

Working at a spa

Nimesh’s mother Samanthi has sent Rs. 15,000 in the bank per month for his expenses and after paying Rs. 12,000 for the room he rents at the Rathana Arama Viharaya, he has Rs. 3,000 left for his food and other expenses. Nimish is studying at the Lanka Hospital and has worked as a fashion designer to meet the necessary expenses during the season and has also worked at a spa (massage clinic). Nimish is also a talented dancer.

I am not a thief, you will understand if you call the police” According to that statement that says, “Ask the gentleman,” it is clear that he entered the house with the knowledge and permission of the owner of the house No. 29.

Relatives say that Nimesh worked at a spa in Mirissa and had a dispute with the spa owner. 
Most spas in Sri Lanka are run by organized underworld gangs, and every spa that does not comply must pay a bribe to them.

“Then you will understand” means that Nimesh was trying to escape the beating. Although Nimesh says that he asked the gentleman, he does not reveal the reason for his visit to that house. Since he worked as a spa worker, there is a serious doubt as to whether it was a spa related incident.

CID detectives  should pay attention to whether the owner of the house where Nimesh allegedly forced his way in has any connections with the spa owners. It is reported that two men claiming to be friends of Nimesh, who are involved in the spa industry, abducted and assaulted Nimesh and brought him to the house at No. 29, Rathana Jyothi Mawatha. We have received information that two people who last spoke to Nimesh have already been arrested and are being questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department.

Why was Nimish confused?

If Nimesh had gone to house number 29 for any other reason, he would have been confused because he had encountered an unexpected situation. “Mom, it’s a disaster, I am going to be taken to the police” he had told his mother. No one except his mother knew that he was involved in the spa industry to find out his expenses. “My son is afraid of even the smallest thing,” Nimesh’s mother Samantha told the writer. 

The OIC of the Welikada Police initially said that Nimesh had sneaked into a house and while he was under a table, he was grabbed by the residents and neighbors of the house, beat and tied him up, called the police emergency unit and handed him over.

The OIC also said that he is a young man addicted to drugs. He is not as handsome as he is portrayed on social media. The OIC firmly states that he is a person who is addicted to drugs with a jaw twisted in appearance. He said this to the writer while showing a picture of Nimesh’s body in the Angoda Mental Hospital morgue. The OIC’s story raises doubts as to whether the group that kidnapped and assaulted Nimesh drugged him or made him come in or took him into police custody. Nimesh’s body parts have been sent to the forensics to see if he used drugs. The Welikada OIC says that he is a drug addict but also a mentally ill person. If Nimesh was admitted to Angoda Hospital instead of the Colombo National Hospital on medical advice, how did the OIC and the Welikada Police know that he was mentally ill?

Nimesh died while being taken to Angoda Hospital

The autopsy report states that the internal parts of the body were crushed due to the assault, but the proximate cause of death was suffocation. Nimesh was taken from Rathana Jyothi Mawatha to the Welikada Police Cell. He started screaming in the police cell. Later, Nimesh was taken out of the cell and taken to the Crime Branch of the same police station, where he was beaten with a stick, a person who was kept in the cell that night told us. The police chiefs have forced the other suspects kept in the cell to say that Nimesh hit his head in the cell.

It is reported that crime OIC Senadheera of the Welikada Police, 1assaults the suspects who are arrested by feeding them chilli. Sometimes before a female suspect named Rajakumari was beaten to death by feeding them chilli. The court has ordered a panel of specialist doctors, including the Chief Medical Examiner of Colombo, to exhume Nimesh’s body and conduct a post-mortem examination. The panel should pay attention to whether deceased Nimesh was also fed by chilli.

The police media spokesperson stated in a press release that “Nimesh behaved in a disorderly manner, banging his body on the wall of the cell and that he had acted in a manner beyond the control of the officers and that he had later died after being admitted to the Angoda Mental Hospital. There were 16 suspects in the cell when Nimesh was thrown into the cell. It would be acceptable if it was said that his head was banged on the wall, but the media spokesperson has tried to cover up the incident by saying that he banged his body to the wall. The medical report states that Nimesh’s thighs were also injured. We challenge, the police media spokesperson to show the way how nimesh’s thighs were banged on the wall.

The scoundrels who betrayed Nimesh

Welikada police sources say that after Nimesh’s death, 16 suspects who were in the cell with him were released without being produced in court. Fearing that the public would take to the streets to protest against the police over the incident and express their views on social media, the government suspended the Welikada OIC, a sergeant and a constable, suppressing the protest of the protesters. It is reported that the OIC also assaulted Nimesh and there is serious doubt that the Welikada police killed Nimesh on a contract from the spa owners.

About five years ago, the Welikada Police brutally attacked and killed Dematagoda Jagath and later on May 11, 2023, a woman named Rajkumari was brutally assaulted and killed. Rajkumari was murdered under the current OIC Chinthaka Anuradha. She was a 38-year-old mother of two and a resident of Nawalawatta, Badulla.

Under the National People’s Power government, eight people have already died while in the custody of police and prison officials. Ganemulla Sanjeeva is one among them.

The need to overthrow the capitalist system
The reason for Nimesh’s near death was a police attack, but he was the victim of a police attack because of the cynicism of the capitalist system. Nimesh came to Colombo and did not have a way to earn a living after completing his studies, so he took up a job in the spa industry. Not only young people of Nimesh’s age, but especially the lower middle classes and petty bourgeoisie, are increasingly inclined to engage in unsafe and illegal jobs (drug trafficking and drug packing) because of the possibility of earning more money. In fact, this is not Nimesh’s fault, but rather a reflection of the failure of the capitalist system and its brutality. The capitalist social system’s inability to solve any socio-economic problems facing the working-class masses has not only been further demonstrated, but it has also begun to leak out through the assassination of Sathsara Nimish.