Court rules death of Dinesh Schaffter appears to be a murder

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (November 01) determined that the death of businessman Dinesh Schaffter occurred as a result of an external pressure applied on his neck and the facial area.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya observed that there is a reasonable doubt that Dinesh Schaffter’s death was a result of a criminal act and issued an order directing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director to arrest the perpetrators.

The five-member-panel comprised Professor Asela Mendis (Chairman) Professor B.C.R. Perera, Professor D.H.S. Fernando and two JMO’s Dr. Siva Subramanium and Dr. B.R. Ruwanpura, appointed to uncover the actual cause of death of the late businessman Schaffter, submitted its report on the post-mortems to the Colombo Additional Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday (October 31).

However, the relatives of the deceased businessman have requested the court to allow their attorneys to present facts regarding the post-mortem examination report, following the submission of the report.

Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya, who rejected the request, pointed out that the only thing that takes place in the post-mortem examination is to uncover the actual reason that caused the death of a person, and that there is no provision available in the law that allows an external party to present facts regarding the matter.

Thus, the Additional Magistrate ordered the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to take measures to hand over the remains of the late businessman, which are currently placed at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, to his family members. She was also ordered to provide necessary facilities for the burial of the remains at the Jawatte Cemetery, as per the previous court orders.

Director of the Janashakthi PLC Group, Dinesh Schaffter, was found tied up in his car at the General Cemetery in Borella on 15 December 2022 and died a day later while receiving treatment at the ICU of the National Hospital in Colombo.