Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama has remanded until September 18 a boat driver accused of helping the principal suspect in the “Ganemulla Sanjeewa” murder case flee the country, Hiru News reported.
The suspect, Selvanayagam Jesudasan, known as “Palasu”, was produced in court after a 30-day period of detention and questioning under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The Colombo Crimes Division named him as the forty-seventh suspect in the investigation.
The allegations
Police told the court that Jesudasan knowingly arranged to carry the main suspect, Ishara Sewwandi, by boat from Aleiyalei in Jaffna to India, and that after the crossing he destroyed the boat’s GPS navigation system to remove evidence.
Investigators further alleged that he routinely ferried large-scale drug traffickers out of the country, charging Rs. 50,000 for each trip to India.
Hiru News gives the departure point as “Aleiyalei”; reporting on the escape in 2025 placed it at Ariyalai, on the Jaffna lagoon. LankaNewz has not been able to confirm which rendering the court record uses.
A separate arrest from the 2025 boatman
This is not the first arrest over the sea crossing. NewsFirst reported in October 2025 that a boat operator had been detained, and that a further suspect named Anandan — found with two pistols — had previously arranged illegal sea escapes for organised crime figures. That account also said Sewwandi travelled with two other people, one then in remand over an unrelated offence and one still at large. Neither report names Jesudasan, and the two arrests appear to be distinct.
The Aluthkade shooting
“Ganemulla Sanjeewa”, whose given name was Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne, was shot dead on 19 February 2025 inside courtroom No. 5 of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court at Aluthkade by an assailant dressed as an attorney, as he was being produced before the court. It remains one of the most serious security breaches recorded inside a Sri Lankan court complex.
Sewwandi, who investigators allege carried the firearm into the court, was arrested in Nepal in October 2025 and remanded in August after close to ten months in Colombo Crimes Division custody. She is held at Angunukolapelessa Prison, where the same Chief Magistrate granted detectives access to record a statement from her in late August. Others in custody include an attorney remanded under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and an associate repatriated from India.
No other verified newsroom had filed on today’s remand at the time of writing, and Ada Derana was unreachable throughout this cycle.
