News
Panadura lady aged 90 from elite family robbed by agency-provided domestic
By Norman Palihawadane
The matriarch of an elite Panadura family watching evening television in her mansion was recently gagged and robbed of her gold bangles (thee sovereigns) by an employment agency-provided domestic aide who had worked for her for four days.
Police who have been unable to make any breakthrough into this case warned prospective employers to beware of the risks they are taking when making such recruitment saying assistance on antecedents is available. But given the pressures of current policing, most people are doubtful that servant registration with police of long ago still continues.
The victim, a member of an elite Panadura family, said that the aide had worked satisfactorily for four days and had gagged her with a triangular piece of cloth while she was watching evening television before removing her bangles and decamping. She was alone at the time of the robbery, her son who lived with her having gone out. Some strips of cloth, possibly made ready to tie her up, were found after the incident.
“I’d like this publicized to warn other prospective employers recruiting domestic aides through agencies of the risks,” she said. “I responded to an advertisement in a Sinhala newspaper, and a smart-looking woman representative of the agency escorted this person to my home.
“She was well spoken and I paid a fee of Rs. 25,000 plus Rs. 4,000 to cover transport expenses. We have demanded a refund of the fee and followed-up with a lawyer’s letter but there’s been no response. They are not even answering the phone,” she said. “She may have attempted to remove my ring but I’m not sure. I was also wearing earrings (brilliants) but these people are usually interested in easy-to-dispose gold so there was no attempt to rob them.”
A photograph of the woman, WhatsApped to the prospective employer, has been given to the police and has also appeared on Face Book. According to her NIC, the woman had a Nattandiya address but is no longer there.
“The agency wanted me to come to Kadawatha to interview her and got her to talk to me on the phone when I said it was not possible for me to come there. Thereafter the ID was sent to me and she was brought to my home by an agency representative,” the victim said.
The agency supplying the aide has offices in Kadawatha, Pasyala and elsewhere.Police said that they contacted the job agency and found that the information recorded on the suspect woman was false. The suspect has given the agency a copy of an NIC with an address in Nattandiya.
A senior police officer said that when recruiting strangers as domestic helpers, the employer should check up on antecedents for which police assistance is available. He called on the public to be vigilant when hiring people for domestic work because robberies have increased in recent times.
The job agency was under investigation and has liability in this instance because the suspect woman had been introduced by them to the employer and her son, police said. Panadura South police are conducting further investigations.
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal deep sea areas
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 05.00 p.m. 18 September 2026, valid for the next 24 hours.
PLEASE BE AWARE!
The atmospheric disturbance to the North of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to develop into a low pressure area within the next 24 hours.
Due to its influence, wind speed over the Bay of Bengal sea areas will increase during the next few days starting from
tomorrow (19th).
The wind speed in the sea areas marked under the “Advisory” category on the map below will increase to 55-65 kmph at times and those sea areas will be rough or very rough at times.
Navel and fishing communities engaging the activities over this sea area are advised to be vigilant and be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the department of Meteorology in this regards.
Text and Pic by Priyan de Silva
Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) Ranga Dissanayake has questioned whether some promises contained in the National People’s Power (NPP) manifesto, A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life, could be fulfilled even if the government wanted to implement them.
Dissanayake raised the issue during a discussion following the release of the third biannual report on manifesto monitoring by the March 12 Movement, at the BMICH, on Wednesday.
He questioned whether the report had taken into account legal and institutional constraints affecting the implementation of certain pledges.
Citing the proposal to establish Anti-Corruption Investigation Offices in each district, Dissanayake said such offices could be established only with the agreement of CIABOC and that amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act would be necessary.
He also referred to the pledge to abolish the Executive Presidency, noting that successive governments had made similar commitments since 1994. He questioned whether there had been adequate consideration of where the powers vested in the Executive President would be transferred if the system were abolished.
On the proposal to establish a Public Prosecutor, Dissanayake questioned whether the Government intended to maintain the office alongside the Attorney General, who currently performs prosecution-related functions.
Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake said Dissanayake’s remarks should be regarded as his personal views and not as Government policy.
Monitoring and Evaluation Consultants M. Thilakarajah and D.D. Mataharaarachchi presented the third-phase findings, covering January to June 2026.
The corruption case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) against former Navy Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, and Yoshitha Rajapaksa was set for a pre-trial conference by the Colombo High Court.
The case was taken up before the Colombo High Court on Thursday (17), when the accused, who are currently out on bail, appeared before the court. After considering the submissions made, the court ordered that the case be called for a pre-trial conference.
The CIABOC had filed the case against the accused, alleging that a corruption offence was committed by sending Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for training at the Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom despite him not having the required qualifications.
Advisory for strong winds and rough seas for Multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal
Showers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya Districts
Some NPP manifesto promises may be difficult to fulfil – CIABOC DG
Yoshitha and ex-Navy chief Karannagoda’s case fixed for PTC
Court orders probe into Wimal’s rally speech
Court to rule on Dilith’s writ petition on September 30
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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