Retires from police service

by Sarath Malalasekera

Detective Senior Superintendent of Police D.S.Y. Samaratunga retired after serving the Police Force for thirty-four years.

Senior SP Samaratunga 'Sam' to his near and dear ones joined the Police Force in 1971 as a young Sub Inspector. In 1989 he was promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Police and later in 1994 as a Superintendent of Police.

In 1999 Samaratunga was promoted to the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police.

He had served in almost every part of the country including the operational areas during the height of insurgency. In 1991 he had been assigned to cover Elpitya, Tangalle and Matara during the insurrection period. He was responsible for controlling those areas during the troubled period assisted by his other colleagues.

In 1996 Samaratunga was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and was handling the Gang Robbery Bureau. During the period in the Gang Robbery Bureau Samaratunga's squad was able to apprehend several leading gang robbers and to control the increasing crime in the country.

In 1998 Samaratunga was also assigned to lead the human smuggling section of the CID.

In addition to Gang Robbery Bureau and Human Smuggling Division, Samaratunga was assigned to head the Special Investigation Unit at the CID in the year 2002.

Samaratunga successfully conducted several important investigations including the LTTE attack on the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy, Hokandara quadruple murder, LTTE bomb blast at Town Hall where President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was also injured in 1999 and LTTE attack on the Kollupitiya police station where four police personnel were killed.

Detection of the "invisible ship" carrying 254 Pakistanis to be smuggled to western countries and seven Russian crew members in the high seas off Negombo was the latest detection of Detective Senior SP Samaratunga and his squad.

Senior SP Samaratunga was also responsible for arresting the suspect including two police personnel, in the Gerard Perera murder at Wattala.

At the time of Samaratunga's retirement he was in charge of the "Anti Human Smuggling Investigation Bureau."

Sam is a distinguished past pupil of Dharmapala Vidyalaya and a son of two Principals D. A. Samaratunga, father and J. Samaratunga mother.