Fugitive surrenders to Courts; Security will be reduced

Deshabandu Tennakoon, Inspector General of Police of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, surrendered to the Magistrate’s Court in Matara on the morning of 19 March.  He had unbelievably evaded what was described as a massive, concerted police hunt for near 21 days. Of course, if the hunt had been so massive, concerted and an all-out attempt, he could barely have evaded being caught, Sri Lanka being so small in size, and its people ever ready to spill the beans or sneak, more so when tempted with a hefty monetary reward. But he did hide or was very cleverly hidden by one/those indebted to him. The latter impossible to believe since who would put his neck in the noose set for such a rescuer, more particularly a top bod for whom Deshabandu would have helped.  Anyway, he is now in remand prison, and justice will be meted out; or so we expect.

The man the ex-IGP was

   Tisaranee Gunasekara’s article on his escape and hiding was brilliant in the Sunday Island newspaper of 16th as she compared the ex IGP to T S Elliot’s Macavity the Cat.  Her title was:  Macavity IGP and the Complicit State and her article encapsulated within it the entire drama. What Cass remembers is how he was given the IGP post in spite of the Supreme Court finding him guilty of torturing some convicts in police custody. He was handpicked by the previous government to catch druggies but only netted in droves of small time peddlers and drug takers. The big timers, more so the king pin-peddlers and pushers in their plush residences here or overseas laughed their guts out, very probably paying big money for their continued freedom.

   Let’s go to T S Elliot (1888-1965), the foremost poet in the modern age who wrote a series of poems about cats, the most favoured being Macavity: The Mystery Cat.  The musical of the poems – Cats – was produced in 1981 by Cameron Mackintosh with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber. It was a theatre presented in Colombo by Sri Lankans.

   Cassandra wishes to parody sections of that poem hoping it will not offend the poet long dead, and present-day admirers of his poetry. She names no names but the hat will fall on the head/s that fit it.

Desha’s a Mystery Man, he’s called the Hidden Paw

For he’s the master criminal who can defy the Law.

He was the bafflement of the police force, the Flying Squad’s despair

For when they reach the scene of hiding, Desha is not there.

Desha, Desha, there’s no one like him.

He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity,

His powers of levitation (politic) would make a fakir stare.

And when you reach the scene of crime – Desha is not there!

You may seek him with the highest, you may also look in gamas

But I tell you once and once again, Desha’s not there!

He’s outwardly respectable (had thousands of bots of imported spirits)

There never was a police cop of such deceit and suavity.

He always had an alibi and one or two to spare.

He was toady to Prezes, PMs and even Ministers; this Napoleon of Crime.

Cassandra always wondered when his name came in the news that Prez gave him the Deshabandu honorary title which is the third highest in the land, recognizing meritorious service. Googling she found it is the first name given the baby boy born on March 7, 1971, with other names: Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Wanshalankara Deshabandu Tennakoon.  Educated at Nalanda College, Colombo, he obtained BA and MA degrees from the Universities of Colombo and Kelaniya, and joined the police force as an apprentice ASP.

VIP security

The NPP government, when it came to power, very rightly reduced the security given past Presidents and First Lady widow and other VVIPs. Ex Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa had a colossal battery of police and armed forces personnel to guard him, his wife and those of family who lived with him and his palatial government-gifted home.

He surely had all these since his brother Gotabaya, who was reputed to be simple and not show-boxy and declared he wanted no luxuries, was found to have left millions in a bundle of cash when he fled the country. Wasn’t Deshabandu Tennekoon’s name mentioned in this matter, too? What Cassandra found hard to believe in this instance was that one or more of those protesters who broke into the President’s House and found the lucre, gave it over to the police.

   Well, to return from that aside of Cass’ to what she was writing about: MR’s security. He appealed against the reduction to around one–third the number of personnel guarding him as that his rights were violated. His devotees’ reason against the reduction was that he saved the country and was in risk of his life.

Yes, it was during his presidency that the war resumed and was won after a previous government foolishly gave the LTTE carte blanche in the form of a ceasefire, which helped it regroup and gain international sympathy. The war is long over. His fundamental rights petition against the downsizing of his security contingent was quashed by a three-bench judgment of the Supreme Court.

Congratulations

Good; almost coincides with International Women’s Day.  The Cabinet-of-Ministers approved the appointment of Rukdevi Fernando as the 39th Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department. She was a Deputy Commissioner before her promotion. She succeeded Sepalika Chandrasekara, who, within her term of service in 2024, succeeded in collecting the highest tax revenue in SL’s history. Give it to the women to do a good job whether tending babies, caring for the sick or collecting taxes.