Exhumed Lankan woman's body sent for postmortem

The exhumed body of a murdered Sri Lankan woman has been sent for a postmortem to help Riyadh police's investigations, Sri Lankan embassy sources told Arab News on Tuesday. Chitra Ranasinghe, 44, was murdered and buried in a house belonging to another Sri Lankan woman.

Acting on a tip-off, the police found the body buried in a residential apartment in the heart of Riyadh.

Following the exhumation of the body, the authorities arrested the woman, a housewife, and her husband, who was working as a chef for a city restaurant.

The suspects are in police custody while authorities carry out investigations.

Arab News learned that the victims and the suspects were from the same village in the Anuradhapura district. It was alleged that they were working in the city for the same Saudi sponsor.

The victim's husband and son are in jail for brewing and selling liquor in the city.

An embassy official who refused to comment on the murder said the case is under police investigation. However, he said one of the victim's sons currently in Sri Lanka had asked the mission to repatriate the body home to hold a funeral.

The investigations are being carried out by the police station in Malaz. The names of those arrested have been withheld since the inquiry is not completed. Meanwhile, police in Shifa arrested four people allegedly transporting liquor for sale in a vehicle. The police found 60 large bottles of liquor brewed locally by the suspects.

The authorities are conducting further investigations to find out if any more people are involved in the racket. Courtesy: Arab News