Colombo: A police officer who carried out a rare investigation to follow up a report filed by a journalist on the day of tsunami in December has come in for praise.
The probe led to the conviction and imposition of death sentence on two men who snatched a gold chain from a woman tsunami victim and pushed her back into the water leaving her to die.
Chief Inspector Sarath Mendis of the southern Galle police station had closely followed television pictures and newspaper pictures published showing the sequence of events of the men grabbing her gold chain and pushing her back into the water.
Galle High Court Judge Chandrasena Rajapakse on Wednesday sentenced to death both accused Mapalagamage Nuwan Kumara alias "Dumsanda" of Wellassapura, Galle, and K. Ajith Silva of Kaluwella, Galle.
They were charged with committing the murder of 35-year-old spinster Deneth Desika Kalyani of Devinigoda, Rathgama.
A television cameraman-cum-journalist Ajantha Samarawickrama had been able to capture the sequence of events from his residence located close to the southern coastal town of Galle.
The pictures showed the woman being washed ashore when the tsunami hit the town and then the men carrying her to a safe area, grabbing the chain and then pushing her back to the water.
The main prosecution evidence in this case was the video film.
The two accused appearing in the video, were arrested by the police, while a piece of the snatched chain was found in the possession of the first accused Kumara.
