COLOMBO: The police identified the person who had committed suicide at the Independence Square on Friday morning was former manager of the SriLankan Airlines, Rajeewa Jayaweera,63,.
He was youngest son, of the late Stanley Jayaweera, a career Foreign Service officer who was ambassador to Germany and Pakistan, and the late Mrs. Jayaweera, leaves a son in Dubai, his brother and sisters.
Police said a firearm with four live ammunition was found at the scene. Despite his National Identity Card mentioning an address in Rajagiriya, Jayaweera has been last spotted at his residence in the area of Milagiriya, Bambalapitiya.
He had reportedly given the keys of his office to an employee and instructed the maid at his house in Bambalapitiya to give the key to his car to his brother, just before leaving the house last evening.
Jayaweera had served as a manager at SriLankan Airlines and later operated an airline ticketing company. He was also a freelance journalist who had published many articles on SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka.
The police revealed that the deceased had left a letter addressed to his brother.
According to the letter, Jayaweera had been suffering from an ailment pertaining to his spinal cord and had decided to take his own life, Police Media Spokesperson SP Jaliya Senaratne said during a media briefing.
“He had mentioned certain messages in the letter and details of how he had purchased the firearms,” SP Senaratne said further.
The report released following the post-mortem examination conducted by the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer L.M.L. de Silva determined the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head through the mouth.
Colombo Judicial Medical Officer reported that the victim’s body did not suffer any other wounds and that there had not been other wounds that would have been caused by a third party, SP Senaratne added.
Under these circumstances, the Police ruled the death as a suicide.
However, the magistrate’s inquest on the death is yet to be conducted.
The Island newspaper in its weekend edition said : “ He also wrote letters to the Editor of The Island, our sister paper. A trenchant, well-informed writer, his contributions that included incisive political analysis, were without fear or favour. He was the most knowledgeable writer on SriLankan Airlines in the Sri Lanka press drawing from an information bank in his head and using his ability to dig deep into the affairs of the airline which he had long served.”
“His family confirmed that he had taken his own life near Independence Square where he regularly exercised. His body was found with a 22 bullet wound on the head.”
