Aluthgama police yesterday reported the gruesome killing of an eight year old boy by a gang of teenage kidnappers who demanded a Rs. 2.5 million ransom from the victim’s father, a wealthy businessman.

Two teenagers were arrested by police in the early hours of yesterday in connection with last Friday’s killing at Kalawilawatte, Moragolla in the Aluthgama police area. The two suspects had been among the victim’s friends and used to visit his home regularly, police said. They were addicted to heroin and ganja, police further said.

There was evidence to suggest that the little eight-year-old was strangled to death close to his home, police said.

A senior police officer said that S. Amila Ruwan Silva [17] and P. Sudarshana [18] were arrested around 1.30 am at Aluthgama when they were getting away with the bag containing the ransom money.

One of them was described as a relative of the victim. The suspects, described by police as the leaders of the plot and eight other persons had been arrested so far. Almost all of them are teenagers and a few in early 20s, police said.

Initially, the police and the victim’s parents had thought that they were dealing with a gang of underworld activists.

The victim Sadeepa Lakshan Silva an Year Three student was kidnapped on Friday afternoon by a group of persons with whom he was playing who later called his father Jayantha Silva and demanded that he pay Rs. 2.5 million ransom for his son’s release and also warned against informing the police. And "they had threatened to wipe out the entire family," a police official said. At the time the kidnappers called Silva, father of two more sons and a daughter had been at his shop and had immediately contacted home to inquire about his youngest child.

After that the kidnappers had contacted Silva several times to give instructions with regard to the paying of the ransom. Infact he had not contacted police fearing for his dear son’s life.

However, a senior police sleuth in the area had got to know about the kidnapping and had ordered an immediate investigation while seeking help from Sri Lanka Telecommunications to monitor telephone conversations between the abducted boy’s father and the kidnappers.

The kidnappers had contacted the victim’s family finally at 1 am yesterday and wanted them to leave the ransom money inside a telephone booth near a studio at Aluthgama. Police had moved in swiftly and had been waiting for the kidnappers. Policemen in mufti had seen two persons approaching the telephone booth and picking the bag containing the money.

Seeing the policemen, they had tried to runaway but were overpowered and arrested, police said. Under intense interrogation, they had broken down and bared the gory details of the killing and revealed the place where they had dumped the body — inside a latrine pit situated less than 100 meters away from the victim’s home.

The body covered with a fertiliser bag was recovered by police from the latrine pit at Kalawilawatte in the presence of Kalutara Magistrate N. B. Karunathilake.

Kalutara Magistrate N. B. Karunatilleke who held the magisterial inquiry ordered the Judicial Medical Officer, Nagoda hospital to conduct the post mortem.

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