A comedy of errors (and corruption) that became distinctly unfunny

Felix Ranjit Sirimanne (FRS), at regular two-year intervals, made a “Rest and Recreation (R&R)” pilgrimage from Sydney to Sri Lanka. His wife Gillian accompanied him. Gillian’s family is from Kandy and it is the town where the couple usually spends their holiday at the home of her sister. Visits to other places were intermittent, and that too mainly to Colombo, 72 miles away for a “Bajau” session with classmates or friends.

“Classmates” he had many, with a record-breaking 10-year stint at the Royal College upper school, beginning in 1957, with many juniors catching up with him in later years. This proved all to the good because he had many schoolmates he knew well in influential places in the country.

This story is about my impish classmate who did not take his studies that seriously. But he was a talented sportsman, a cadet and an all-rounder. It could be said that his extracurricular activity in school was “studies”, much to the consternation of his parents. He went on to capture the most coveted position that a schoolboy can achieve by being selected as the Head Prefect of Royal College. This story is not only about him but also of the corruption that pervades our country.

Kandy. While at Tobacco, he also played rugby representing Kandy Sports Club in the Clifford Cup until he migrated “Down Under” in the mid Seventies. Thus chilling out and reminiscing with a glass in hand was a regular practice which he practiced with his friends and relatives on his visits to Sri Lanka.

Their previous visit to the island was in 2010, when FRS was the witness at his niece’s wedding. There was a video shot of signing the Register and the wedding festivities which, unknown to him at the time, was to be the vital piece of evidence that saved him from a nasty accusation two years later.

On September 3, 2012, which was a Wednesday, at about 9 a.m. while he was browsing through some books at the Vijitha Yapa Bookstore in Kandy, a policeman tapped him on the shoulder. From that moment onward, for the next 10 days, he was virtually “went through hell”.

The cop requested FRS’s Identity Card (ID). FRS replied that “he does not have an ID as he is now an Australian Citizen”. The policeman did not accept this. He claimed that FRS was actually one De Alwis from Kandy who had fraudulently taken money from two men in Anuradhapura in 2010. According to the police records, the cop continued, the money was taken on the pretext of procuring jobs for the two victims in Japan.

FRS was stunned. “What on earth is this”, he wondered. He then pulled out his driver’s licence from Australia and showed it to the policeman. This only confused the cop. FRS was asked to accompany the policeman to the Kandy Police Station, which was at the other end of the town. Vehement protest and denial that he is not the guy the cop was looking for was to no avail. He was literally frogmarched through the town like a common criminal.

Marching, of course, was one of FRS’s favourite past times. He was a cadet and also the sergeant of one of the two Royal College senior platoons in 1965. Later he was elevated to Company Sergeant Major and ‘numero uno’ of the College contingent. But marching this time was a different matter, with the boot being literally on the other foot. FRS followed the policeman to the curious looks of the passers-by.

At the Police Station, the Inspector on duty too refused the Australian drivers’ licence as proof of identity. On a further attempt to prove who he was, the police were willing to go with him to Asgiriya, to Gillian’s sister’s home, where he was staying. So off they went in a police jeep. Three cops and the inspector kept him company on the ride to Asgiriya where his passport was tendered as evidence of identity with details of his last visit in 2010.

That, based on the passport stamps, proved FRS was not in the island on the date that the alleged criminal transaction took place but this was ignored by the Inspector who refused to see reason.

FRS was brought back to the police station and after some formalities and delays, was arrested and put in a remand cell at about 5 p.m. to be produced before a Magistrate the following morning. He was not given any food or get any drinking water. His forlorn pleas did nothing to get the authorities to change their minds.

The following day at a hearing held in camera, the Magistrate made a remand order. He said in English; “The case will go for trial and first hearing will be in eight days’ time on September 11 and till then the accused is to be remanded at Bogambara Jail”. A week’s time was granted for further investigations and it was necessary for the accused to be behind bars during the period, the police urged. An identity parade was to be held before the next date at the courts.

FRS was the taken to Boga ,(as the prison was called by the inmates and Police) and, the following preliminaries were carried out at the jail:

• Searched his trousers and took away the belt;

• Next to go was his ring and watch and he was made to sign a document.

Then he was taken along a corridor to a cell where it was obvious that the guards had heard through the grapevine that a “swindler” was on the way. The cell into which he was pushed into had five other occupants. Among them there were two ‘Mahattayas’, a Trinitian and an Anthonian respectively – old boys of two prestigious Colleges in Kandy.

Of the others, one was remanded for an alleged murder and the other two for theft. As FRS was to soon find out, the alleged murderer had pleaded innocent at the first hearing. But within the confinement of the cell, took visceral satisfaction of boasting about the gory details of stabbing and dismembering the victim. The Trinitian was accused of swindling a bank of millions whilst the Anthonian was accused of rape.

FRS was given a rag to cover himself by the welcoming inmates while sleeping on the bare floor. There were five plastic bottles for ‘pissing” and nothing for the big job. An extra bottle was supplied the following morning. Holding tight was mandatory till the roll call at five a.m. After being woken up and a head count done, the inmates were marched off to wash up and to go to the toilets. On the first day one of FRS’s cellmates lent him soap. Gillian ensured two more bars during her subsequent visit.

The 12 toilets were of the squatting type in a row with no doors. FRS had a ‘wonky knee” being legacy of rugby tackles and squatting was difficult, but as they say, ‘what to do, but grin and bear it?”

The standard breakfast of plain rice and pol-sambol was served at 7 am. Lunch was at 11 a.m. followed by dinner at 4 pm. These two meals were mainly vegetarian with the exception of “Karavadu” (dried fish) in a curry or fried. Meals were brought in big pots from the prison kitchen and servings dished out by the kitchen staff, who were lifers. Service was according to the cell number. Aluminium plates and mugs were used.

After breakfast one was free to walk around the restricted and fenced off quadrangle or visit the sick bay with a guard. Those who wished had access to the reading room.

One visitor was allowed each day and Gillian became the regular visitor with some food. The meals she brought were shared with some inmates in the night. The “Visitor” meeting room was limited to five prisoners at a time and it was a case of shoving and pushing to get some space. The prisoners and the visitors were separated by a wire mesh.

A cement tank near the toilets was filled during the night and the ablutions, including bathing, were carried out before breakfast with each inmate having a pail and a tin can for their use. The process was supervised by another lifer. Soap was provided by the prison, but of inferior quality to that supplied by Gillian. The supervising lifer kept a count of the water consumed. Rule of thumb was one pail per prisoner. He was not averse to taking a bribe of five rupees for an extra pail. Thus, there was a ‘haves and have not policy’ even in prison, based on monetary considerations. Nothing new compared to the life in the open, outside the walls.

FRS, ever the optimist, accepted his fate and went on to relate stories from Australia to the prisoners. Soon they were asking for more stories about kangaroos and life in Australia. As a result of this story telling, many became familiar with greeting format of “Good day Mate” whenever FRS approached the tank. The ‘old boys’ from the two prestigious Kandy schools made sure that FRS was safe.

At 5 pm there was, again a head count and all were off to the cells to be locked up. The prison guards could be bribed to deliver outside food to the cells in the nights. FRS cell always had some extra food. The going rate for bribes was Rs 1,000 per diem and the main contributors were FRS and the two “old boys”. The food was shared among the six cell mates.

The personal charm and skills of FRS that made him popular at Royal and made thes school decision makers to appoint him as a prefect in 1965 and then as the head prefect in 1966, also reappeared nearly half a century later under the trying circumstances, to get into the good books of the prison guards.

Bribery in the prison was not always pecuniary. Packets of Maliban “Marie biscuits”, cigarettes, or even a ‘buth packet’ from a nearby restaurant or an eatery was also sufficient with the guard’s mobile phone being borrowed to do the ordering. Gillian became the “Marie” carrier on a daily basis. The biscuits were left in the meeting room. The goods bought with the help of guards for dinner were delivered to the guard house at the entrance and subsequently passed through the door of the cell by the guard in attendance. Cigarettes were allowed, but strictly no liquor.

FRS’s cadet skills came in handy too in harnessing his cell mates to sing “baila” and sometimes they had the occupants of the cell on either side joinining them. Camaraderie grew within the cell.

Gillian in this time of adversity and personal bewilderment had done the networking through two Sydney based friends, Lloyd Perera and Tommy Sivanesarasa. She was able to get the help of an influential entity, Colombo based Nalin Pathikirikorale, who was FRS’s senior in school and a well-known businessman. Nalin was a fellow hosteller at Royal and a rugby team mate of FRS. He got the ball rolling and contacted the Attorney General CR de Silva of the ’60 batch who was himself a rugby captain at Royal and known fondly as “Bulla”.

As luck would have it, Bulla had been the bestman at Mahinda Rajapaksa’s wedding in 1970s. Rajapaksa was the President of the country in 2012.

On Wednesday 11 September, FRS was taken in the police van from “Boga” to the courts with head covered, as he could not be exposed before the identity parade. Prisoners from the Women’s Prison which was closer to President’s House and away from “Boga” were also the unseen fellow occupants. He could hear their giggles and some wisecracks.

But FRS was to get another blow at the hands of the police. At the identity parade in the courts on the morning before fronting the Magistrate, two three-wheeler drivers identified him as the alleged recruiting agent, de Alwis who apparently had a fair complexion. FRS is also very fair. All the others in the identity parade were darker. The accusers identified FRS as the alleged criminal based on his complexion.

FRS who also taught young prisoners English inside Boga came to be known as the “Sudu Seeya” for the same reason.

With identification being positive, FRS bail was set by the Magistrate in the afternoon at two million rupees along with two sureties. It was impossible for Gillian to get such an amount on that day, although she had the following day for her to come up with the money.

FRS was kept in the courts cells till 4 pm and taken back to Boga. Whilst crossing the road handcuffed to get into the police van, he saw Australian cricket fans getting into their tour bus to go for the match at Asgiriya. Seeing this, FRS broke down. He should have been in that bus, not in the police van.

Following day and on Thursday. Gillian’s brother-in-law and a friend of the latter tendered their house titles as security and they were also the sureties – an act of real kindness by the latter who did not know FRS at all.

Police were obstructing at every turn, having failed to secure a large bribe from FRS in spite of solicitations. There was also many another side to the story, unbeknownst to FRS, which came to light later and is described further down. He was granted bail on Friday and a court date was set about a month later for the next hearing. FRS set off to Australia as his job was at stake vowing to comeback for the next court appearance.

This was where the Attorney General CR de Silva, stepped in on a pro bono capacity, exercising his legal rights to appear for a friend. This was him paying back for the rugby lessons offered by FRS and also for FRS being the “head cop” in 1966. That the latter was due to FRS’s longevity at school due to not taking books “that seriously” was not of concern to Bulla. FRS motto was ‘why pass first time when three shies are allowed for GCE (O levels) and two shies for University Entrance exams?’

FRS, of course followed his extended stay in school by winning the prestigious Dornhorst prize for the most outstanding boy of 1966. FRS’ seniority in school had taken such a stand that his classmates stood up, more in jest, when he entered the class. “Bulla” was one such classmate. An honour not bestowed even on some teachers.

In the intervening period after FRS departure and the next trial date, the wheels quickly moved thanks to the political connections and the stature of Nalin and Bulla. The President’s Police Direct Unit (PDU) uncovered the real plot behind the recruitment saga.

• PDU arrested the real culprit within two days of departure of FRS. He had five passports and involved with him in the scam were a network of some of Kandy Police and local politicians. And uncannily the real culprit had a marked resemblance to FRS. Police were trying to make FRS the scapegoat to make certain of future graft.

• Kandy Police had provided the photo of FRS in advance to the three wheel drivers on the very first day he was arrested. These two drivers were the ‘official spotters’ for the Kandy Police to find any absconding accused. The drivers were in the pay of the Police.

• Before the bail was set and with the help of PDU, travel records were provided to the Kandy Police of International Arrivals and Departures which clearly showed that FRS was not in Sri Lanka in 2010 at the time one of the crimes was committed by the purported “Recruiting Agent for Japan”.

Records were provided to the Kandy Police. Later on FRS was to find out that these were not tendered to the Magistrate at the court sitting when bail was granted. Evidence was deliberately being withheld.

FRS flew back for the trial and watched a masterly performance by Bulla in taking apart the Kandy Police and the “spotters” in the form two three-wheeler drivers. Nalin and many of FRS’s classmates were there too. Bulla accused Kandy Police of their duplicity and evasion of duties. One exhibit tendered as evidence was the video taken in 2010 at the wedding. At the day and time quoted by the Kandy Police “as to the time of making payment”, FRS was attending the wedding. At the day and time quoted by the second complainant, FRS had left the country and was in Australia, passport and records being tendered as evidence.

FRS was freed. Bulla was very offended when FRS wanted to pay for his services. He said that he was very hurt at the miscarriage of justice towards a man whom he admired and respected and was glad that he was able to repay FRS for all the free coaching and advice during his rugby career at school and post-school.

The real culprit got a very light sentence. FRS filed a ‘civil rights case” and flew down again for the sittings. He retained a lawyer. Subsequently a policeman was charged for dishonesty and fined Rs. 1,000, insufficient for him to lose his job. No compensation was paid to FRS. Bulla sadly is no more.

(Note: This was the time when there were several cases of abductions and ransom demands were made. In some cases, the armed forces personnel were accused of such. Well known cases were those of ‘refugees’ taking boats to get to Australia and the Navy who intercepted them allowing them to go on the payment of bribes. This case has some similarity to those. Had Gillian given a bribe of several thousands to the cops, FRS would have been allowed to go, and the evidence provided by him about his identity would have been accepted.)

(Excerpted from an anthology of memoirs by Nihal Kodituwakku)