Expert panel report on Schaffter’s death not ready yet 

Dinesh Schaffter

By T. Farook Thajudeen

Criminal Investigations Department (CID) told the Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday that the report of the five-member expert medical panel chaired by Dr. Asela Mendis, a pathologist at the University of Colombo into the death of popular businessman Dinesh Schaffter is yet to be completed. The CID said it would conduct further investigations once the report is submitted to Court following completion. 

The detectives also told the court that the blood samples of Dinesh Schaffter’s mother were insufficient to match with the DNA of the late businessman who was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Borella Cemetry in December last year. 

The Additional Magistrate ordered CID to obtain another sample of blood from the mother of the businessman and submit it to the Government Analysts Department. 

On a request made by President Counsel Anuja Premaratne representing Schaffter’s family requested the court to make available the mobile phone of the victim to the aggrieved party to update the contents of the phone to ensure that data is not lost. 

The Magistrate allowed the request and further directed the CID to obtain phone records of upto six months prior to Schaffter’s death. 

The body of Dinesh Shafter was exhumed by the five-member expert medical board conducting forensic investigations to decide whether Dinesh Schaffter’s death was a suicide or a murder.

The second post-mortem examination is currently being conducted at the Karapitiya Hospital in Galle.