Investigation activities concerning seven deaths that had occurred under similar suspicious circumstances within the last few days have been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police and attorney Nihal Thalduwa said.

The bodies of a young female and a male who died of suspected poisoning were found by the Police. Police said that the body of a 21-year-old woman was recovered at her residence in the Yakkala area. The body of a 34-year-old man, who is identified to be a resident of the Ambalangoda area, was found at a guest house in the Maharagama region where he was temporarily staying. The duo are said to have been followers of a certain religious preacher who had committed suicide in the Homagama area recently. 

An individual identified as Ruwan Prasanna Gunaratne, who had engaged in religion-related preaching activities in various parts of the island, was found dead from poisoning and is believed to have committed suicide recently. A few days later on 31 December 2023, his wife (35) was reported to have committed suicide by consuming poison after feeding poison to her three children at their home in Kahantota in Malabe, according to the Police. The woman’s two sons and daughter were aged nine, eight, and seven years, respectively. The 21-year-old woman and 34-year-old man in question had also attended the funeral of the religious preacher, the Police said.

Police further suspect that all seven deaths were the result of the ingestion of the same type of poison.