COLOMBO: A Pakistani and three Sri Lankans were remanded in custody until Jan. 20, as part of investigations into the murder of Mohammed Yakoob Butt, Pakistani national, in Sri Lanka’s Negombo district last month, police said.
The four suspects are Abdul Wahab from Lahore and Sri Lankan nationals Mohamed Sheriff Mohammed Nazmi, Mohammed Farzan Mohammed Niskeen, and Seethar Mohammed Irfan. All of them have been barred from traveling.
Wahab was apprehended by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration as he attempted to renew his visa on Thursday, the police said.
A police representative told the court that investigations had so far revealed that two other suspects, Ali Waqar and Mohamed Farook, both Pakistanis, had escaped to Pakistan on Dec. 25, a day after the murder.
The magistrate granted permission for the remains of the victim to be sent to his next-of-kin in his hometown of Lahore in the Pakistani province of Punjab.
A spokesperson from the Pakistan High Commission told Arab News on Monday that the mission would make the necessary arrangements to transfer the body, adding that Pakistani officials in Colombo were following up the case with relevant authorities.
According to a copy of Butt’s passport seen by Arab News, the deceased was born on Jan. 1, 1970. He had rented an upstairs apartment in July last year in the Negombo district.
Neighbors said the murder took place around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 24, when they heard ”unusual noises” emerging from the victim’s apartment. Eyewitnesses said they had seen two men fleeing the scene in a vehicle.
