 He and Mary Bastian became the local contact for the Sri Lankan government appointed presidential committee to investigate Human Rights violations in the Mannar district.According to Pax Christi, on December 13, 1984 he was requested by the army to give evidence on some of the matters he was reporting.Along with his driver Abdul Cader Sulaiman, his Sinhalese wife Brigette Jeyarajasingham and a police constable named Jesuthasan Roche attached to the Murunkan police station, he was allegedly stopped by Sri Lankan Army personnel while traveling from Mannar to Murunkan.