May 20, Colombo: Colombo Additional Magistrate Mrs. Rajindra Jayasuriya Friday (19) ordered the Criminal Investigations Department to provide necessary facilities to the five-member special judicial committee appointed to determine the cause of Janashakthi Group Director Dinesh Schaffter’s death to exhume his body for further investigations.

The Magistrate issued the order after considering the request made by the five-member expert panel chaired by Professor Asela Mendis, forensic specialist of the University of Colombo, from the court on Thursday (May 18).

The Magistrate also ordered the Criminal Investigations Department to bear all the expenses of the committee members including travel expenses and food in order to provide the opportunity for the five experts to carry out further investigations related to the dead body from the same place.

The five-member expert panel investigating whether the death of Mr. Schaffter was a suicide or a homicide has informed the court in a letter that based on the evidence obtained in relation to the investigations conducted so far, the panel has decided to exhume the body and conduct a new post-mortem examination.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya on February 27, 2023 ordered the appointment of an investigation panel comprising five judicial and forensic medicine experts to determine the cause of death of businessman Dinesh Schaffter.

Accordingly, Prof. Asela Mendis, forensic specialist of Colombo University as the Chairman and Prof. DCR Perera of Ruhuna University, Forensic specialist Prof. DNP Fernando of University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya Hospital Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Siva Subramaniam and Galle Karapitiya Hospital Senior Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Rohan Ruwanpura as the members were appointed for the investigation panel.

The Magistrate appointed this five-member committee to determine the cause of Mr. Schaffter's death, as there were contradictions between the original version of the post-mortem report and the final detailed report related to the businessman’s death.