Mystery surrounds monk’s death

Three police teams have been deployed to investigate the death of Netherlanthaye Jinawansa Thera, a Buddhist monk from Holland, who fell into the Rathgama lagoon, yesterday. He was meditating at the Katudampe Polgasduwa Aranya Senasanaya, Rathgama.

The postmortem examination was conducted yesterday night. The hermitage is located on a small island and a number of other monks, local and foreign, also reside there.

Police said that the thera used a canoe to travel between the island and the mainland. This canoe was found overturned. Given that a weight was tied around the thera’s feet, police suspect that he may have been murdered elsewhere.

The thera had been at the hermitage for over a decade and only visits the mainland for alms.

On Wednesday morning, Galle Chief Magistrate conducted the magisterial inquest. The body was then sent to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.