News
Church raises whereabouts of suicide bomber’s wife Sarah, DMI links
Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith stressing a point at yesterday’s media briefing
Status of two AG Dept officials queried
The National Catholic Committee for Justice has, in a report sent to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, expressing concern a bout the extremely slow progress in investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, raised questions about State Counsel Malik Azeez and Deputy Solicitor General Azad Navavi.
Referring to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry Final Report Vol.1, p 329, the committee has pointed out that the five- member PCoI recommended that the Public Service Commission (PSC) consider taking disciplinary action against Azeez and Navavi.
The Church has said that the PCoI recommended that the Attorney General consider criminal proceedings against All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MP Rishad Bathiudeen. The Church also alleged the culpability of former lawmaker and Eastern Province Governor M. L. A. M. Hisbullah in spreading extremism in the Kattankudy area.
The Church has said that although the PCoI received evidence that Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah, wife of Katuwapitiya suicide bomber was alive and taken refuge in India, the government hadn’t really inquired into the mysterious affair.
The Church has emphasised that all recommendations in the PCoI should be implemented.
On the basis of the PCoI report and statements made by SJB members, Manusha Nanayakkara, Harin Fernando and S.M. Marikkar and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake the Church have raised several questions about the alleged involvement of some members of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) with Easter Sunday attackers, particularly Jameel assigned to carry out suicide blasts at Colombo Taj. (SF)
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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