Treasury Official’s Death Ruled a Suicide, Inquest Finds
The sudden death of a senior official attached to Sri Lanka’s Treasury Department has been determined to be a case of suicide, according to findings from a post-mortem examination conducted on May 1, police said.
Acting Police Media Spokesman Minura Senarath stated that the deceased, Assistant Director Abeysinghe Mudiyanselage Ranga Nishantha Rajapaksha, died due to excessive blood loss resulting from multiple cut injuries.
He added that the post-mortem concluded the fatal wounds were consistent with injuries caused by a sharp weapon.
The examination was carried out by a panel of judicial medical officers, including specialists from Kurunegala, Kuliyapitiya, Nikaweratiya, and Anuradhapura. Their report indicated that the injuries were likely self-inflicted, based on the available evidence.
However, the report stopped short of definitively declaring the death as a suicide, prompting police to continue further investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Police confirmed this development in response to an inquiry by Neth News.
Rajapaksha had previously been suspended from duty in connection with a high-profile financial irregularity involving the transfer of a USD 2.5 million loan installment—intended to be paid to Australia—into a hacker-controlled account.
The 50-year-old official, a resident of Pahala Weerambuwa in Kuliyapitiya, was a father of two. He was an alumnus of Kuliyapitiya Central College and a graduate of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
According to family members, Rajapaksha had left home at around 10:00 a.m. on Thursday (April 30), stating he had some work to attend to in the garden. When he failed to return, relatives went in search of him and later discovered his body lying near a clump of banana trees.
Police recovered a knife believed to have been used to inflict the injuries at the scene.
Kuliyapitiya Acting Magistrate Kanchana Rupasinghe and Judicial Medical Officer B.A.C. Balasuriya were present at the location on the same day to conduct the initial on-site investigation.