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| Pattani Razik |
Gayan Kumara Weerasingha
Investigations carried out by the police into the kidnapping of Pattani Razik, the manager of the CTF Branch, an NGO in Puttalam, and the demand of Rs. two billion as ransom before his murder -- this sum of money was not paid -- reveals that the whole exercise had been launched by those involved with a politician. Razik had been working to uplift the lives of the people in the Puttalam district with the monies that the NGO had received.
This politician who is said to be serving in the UPFA government is now alleged to be doing his utmost to hamper the ongoing inquiries into the murder of Pattani Razik. The CID which launched inquiries into the killing of Razik first took into custody the secretary of a Minister.
This suspect who is a businessman was nabbed at Killinochchi when he was headed there to purchase some metal products. Working on the evidence provided by the secretary to the minister, the CID had then nabbed another suspect named Mohammad Mussdeen. This suspect who also directs short films was taken into custody in Kolonnawa. There is also another suspect who was allegedly involved in the slaying of Pattani Razik -- but he has fled the country.
Abduction
The story on the abduction of Pattani Razik was first highlighted on February 12, 2010. On that day, Razik had left his home and was proceeding to Polonnaruwa to attend a meeting of the Pradeshiya Sabha, representing his NGO, the CTF Branch at Puttalam. He was accompanied by two other persons from the NGO, and was travelling in an official vehicle.
After the meeting, Razik had gone to the Kaduruwela mosque around 3.00 pm. He had thereafter come out of the mosque with a friend who he had met inside the mosque. He had then sent his two colleagues back to Puttalam. It was revealed that subsequently, he had been abducted by a group that had arrived in a white van along with alleged ‘army’ men.
The day Razik was kidnapped his wife had received a telephone call in the evening. The caller had demanded as ransom, Rs. two billion to release her husband. Later, Razik’s wife had lodged a complaint with the Puttalam police. Not stopping at that she had also gone to the Polonnaruwa police station on February 14 to lodge a complaint as Razik had gone missing in Polonnaruwa.
The police initially gave up the idea of carrying out inquiries as they were convinced that Pattani Razik had staged his own abduction. It is alleged that at the same time the politician behind the episode had exerted pressure on the police to halt their inquiries into Razik’s disappearance, saying that his going missing was due to an exercise on the part of the forces.
As there was no information regarding Razik’s whereabouts his NGO also lodged a complaint with the Polonnaruwa police. Subsequently, on March 23, a relative of Razik had informed the police that he had details regarding Razik’s disappearance. This led to the police recovering some of his possessions such as his driver’s license, wristwatch, spectacles and some documents. These items were in the possession of the Polonnaruwa police. Razik’s family suspected Sahabdeen Naushad, the secretary of a Minister as being behind the abduction. Razik’s son, R. Riskan said that Naushad had been a close friend of M. Mustafa who had worked with his father at the said NGO. Mustafa had been the president of the NGO for five years when a decision was taken to replace him.
Acrimony
This had led to acrimony between him and Razik resulting in the two of them falling out. While Razik had been using the vast sums of money received by the NGO for the betterment of the lives of the people in the Puttalam district, his son said that he had been threatened by Mustafa and Naushad and told that he would be abducted with the help of the security forces. It is alleged that these threats were made in view of the millions of rupees that the NGO had in its possession -- monies that were received to carry out humanitarian work in the area. Riskin said that a politician had eyed that money, and his father going missing thereafter could be viewed in that backdrop. At that point in time, efforts made by the police to question the Minister proved fruitless.
On March 23, 2010, Razik’s wife had written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa urging them to find her husband who had gone missing. The response to this letter was in the form of the Defence Ministry taking over the affairs of the said NGO. Razik’s wife and relatives had thereafter informed the international media of his abduction which resulted in those agencies putting pressure on the government to find Razik.
From last March, investigations into Razik’s disappearance were taken over by the CID. After conducting investigations, the CID had come to the conclusion that it was Naushad who had been directly involved in the abduction, and the demand of Rs. two billion that was made to release him. The CID had thereafter taken Shabdeen Naushad into custody in the first week of July this year. A few days later Mohammad Mussdeen was also taken into custody. After intense questioning of the two suspects, the CID was able to conclude that the sole reason for the abduction of Pattani Razik was to lay their hands on the billions of rupees that had been in the possession of the NGO.
After Razik was kidnapped he was forcibly taken to a house in Valachchenai where Naushad had demanded Rs. two billion to release him. Razik had refused to comply resulting in Naushad killing him. Thereafter, Naushad and Mussdeen had dumped Razik’s body in the bathroom of that house. Later, Naushad had used Razik’s mobile phone to threaten the latter’s wife and relatives, also demanding from them the ransom for Razik’s release. A few of Razik’s possessions had been left behind by Naushad so as to give the impression that he was alive -- possessions that were later recovered by the police. After Naushad was taken into custody, the police were able to apprehend Mussdeen. Razik’s body was buried in the house at Valachcenai where it was unearthed.
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