Police are hunting for a software engineer wanted in connection with the death of his 34-year-old girlfriend, whose body was found inside a parked vehicle near Teldeniya Hospital on Tuesday, the case now being treated as a suspected murder.

The deceased has been identified as a physiotherapist from the Kurundukotuwa area of Weligama who was attached to Ampara Hospital. She had reportedly tendered her resignation on June 11, stating she intended to travel overseas.

Investigators said the woman had recently stayed at a lodging facility in Nuwara Eliya with the suspect, who is described as a software engineer residing in Gannoruwa, Kandy. The pair were said to have been planning to leave the country together.

CCTV footage from the location captured what police describe as a “disturbing moment” allegedly showing the man carrying the woman away on the night before her body was discovered.

Police also revealed that the deceased had transferred approximately Rs. 15 million — money she had obtained through a bank loan — to the suspect. The financial transaction is being examined as a possible motive alongside the relationship background.

Three special police teams have been deployed, and the Nuwara Eliya Divisional Crimes Investigation Division is conducting parallel inquiries. Ada Derana had earlier reported the discovery of the body in the vehicle as a routine investigation; NewsFirst’s Thursday update is the first to identify the case as a suspected murder with a named person of interest at large.

The suspect remains unarrested, and police say efforts to locate him have intensified.

Update — June 18 evening: Post-mortem returns open verdict

A post-mortem examination conducted on Thursday returned an open verdict, with investigators unable to conclusively determine whether the death was a homicide or a suicide, NewsFirst reported. Police said several scratch marks had been observed on the woman’s neck. She was 33 years old and had stayed at a guesthouse in Nuwara Eliya between June 3 and June 16 before her body was discovered the following day.

Newswire separately reported additional CCTV detail corroborating the police account that the boyfriend had been recorded moving the body in the hours before its discovery. The new findings keep both lines of inquiry — suspected foul play and self-inflicted death — open as the search for the software engineer continues.

Sources: Murder or Suicide? Suspicion Over Physiotherapist’s Death — NewsFirst, June 18 · Teldeniya body: Dramatic CCTV footage shows how woman’s body was moved — Newswire, June 18.

Update — June 19: Victim named as physiotherapist Shamya Darshani; second girlfriend’s car used

Police on Friday identified the deceased as 34-year-old physiotherapist Shamya Darshani, who was attached to the Ampara District General Hospital, in remarks reported by both Ada Derana and Newswire. The Officer-in-Charge of Teldeniya Police received an anonymous phone call alerting officers to the locked vehicle parked near the hospital with the body on the front passenger seat covered with a black cloth, after which the suspect — described as the wanted boyfriend — is now also believed to have placed the tip-off call himself, police said.

Investigators told Ada Derana the victim had borrowed approximately Rs. 15 million from a bank and several individuals and transferred the money to the suspect, with whom she had been in a relationship for around eight months, expecting to migrate to Canada together. When the planned migration did not materialise and creditors began demanding repayment, she came under severe mental pressure. She arrived at the Nuwara Eliya housing complex on June 3, contacted her brother saying she had not eaten for three days and contacted a psychiatrist at Ampara District General Hospital reporting severe distress; the doctor advised her to seek immediate inpatient psychiatric care, police said. Her mobile phone was switched off after around 4:00 pm on June 16, prompting her brother — a resident of Kota Wewa in Thalawa — to file a missing-person complaint with Nuwara Eliya Police on June 17.

CCTV footage from the apartment complex showed the suspect arriving at around 9:50 pm on Tuesday and remaining inside for about 40 minutes. Ada Derana described the footage as showing him later carrying “the unconscious woman” out at around 10:30 pm; Newswire, citing the same footage, described her as “conscious” at the time she was carried away — a discrepancy police have yet to publicly reconcile. Further inquiries have also revealed that the car used to transport the body belongs to another woman from the Ampara area who is also alleged to have been in a relationship with the suspect.

Sources: More details revealed after woman found dead inside parked car in Teldeniya — Ada Derana, June 19 · Police reveal further details on woman’s body found in Teldeniya — Newswire, June 19.

Update — June 19 night: strangulation suspected, suspect’s real identity revealed

Police now suspect the physiotherapist was killed by strangulation and have released new details about the man they are searching for, Ada Derana reported on Friday night. Although the suspect introduced himself to the victim as “Dineth Dissanayake”, his National Identity Card carries the name Jayasundara Mudiyanselage Champika Sriyan Jayasundara, a 43-year-old resident of Narammala. Investigators say he had concealed his appearance with a wig.

He is alleged to have maintained relationships with several women and to be linked to multiple incidents of deceiving women for financial gain. Police said he is already facing proceedings before the Magistrate’s Courts in Gampaha, Aluthkade, Tissamaharama and Padukka, and that the Criminal Investigation Department holds separate complaints against him relating to fraud against women. He is a father of three, and investigators suspect his legal wife assisted in the alleged scheme. Police have also cast doubt on the claim he was a software engineer, suggesting it may have been part of his deception. Three teams are pursuing him under the direct supervision of Senior Superintendent Samarakoon Banda, head of the Nuwara Eliya police division.

Source: Police uncover more details over woman’s body found in Teldeniya — Ada Derana, June 19.

Update — June 20: Four police teams deployed, suspect tied to 20+ fraud cases in courts

Sri Lanka Police have assigned four teams to apprehend the main suspect in the death of the Weligama physiotherapist, NewsFirst reported on Friday afternoon. Investigators say the man is accused in more than 20 corruption and fraud cases, several of which are currently being heard in courts. He is described as a resident of Narammala in Kurunegala, and police have recorded statements from members of his family.

Inquiries have also revealed that the suspect maintained close relationships with several women and had allegedly used a fake National Identity Card while posing as a software engineer. He is also reported to have maintained a relationship with a mother of three who is currently in hiding. The car in which the victim’s body was found is owned by another woman who had been in a relationship with him, NewsFirst said.

The body of the deceased — described in the NewsFirst report as a 33-year-old physiotherapist from Weligama attached to Ampara Hospital who had been on a tour in the Nuwara Eliya area from June 3 to June 16 — has been handed over to her family after the post-mortem examination, which returned an open verdict on the cause of death. Investigations are continuing.

Source: Four Police Teams Assigned To Investigate Death Of Weligama Physiotherapist — NewsFirst, June 20.