The Board of Management of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) in a statement issued to media says that they had the approval of the Police and Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha to keep body specimens and bones.Full text of the SAITM statement: The Board of Management of the South Asian Institute of Technology & Medicine(SAITM), wishes to place on record the following facts in the interest of the
general public with regard to the ongoing investigations by the CID on Mr. Wasim Thajudeen case.
Human body specimens and bones are kept at our institution only for purposes of education, as is the common practice in most medical faculties. The said specimens are securely stored at our Museum for
medical teaching, which is an integral part of the medical undergraduate programme for which SAITM is recognized as a Degree Awarding Institute as per Gazette Notification nos. 1721/19 dated
30/11/2011 and 1829/36 dated 26/09/2013 to award the degree Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Our request for bones for educational purposes was made in 2011, far prior to the death of
Mr. Thajudeen.
All specimens received by SAITM have been taken over after following the due and established process and the take-over is documented, supervised and certified by the relevant authorities. We have
secured approval both from the Police and from the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha for this purpose.
The list given to us when issuing bones did not contain the name of Wasim Thajudeen. SAITM has no control over the procedures of issuing bones from the JMO office and our records do not reveal
that any body part of Mr. Wasim Thajudeen had been sent to SAITM.
No sooner than it was highlighted that the bones kept at SAITM are the subject matter of an investigation, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Samarasekera voluntarily took a leave of absence, to ensure that
there is absolute transparency in all investigations to be conducted at SAITM by the CID.