News
TN Police bust gang raising funds for LTTE
The Tamil Nadu Police have blown the lid off an international network of former members or sympathisers of the defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) allegedly involved in raising funds for reviving the movement, said a news report published by The Hindu.
The Hindu report filed from Chennai said: A Sri Lankan national, who was detained by the immigration authorities in Chennai recently and handed over to the ‘Q’ Branch-CID of the State police, revealed how the accused persons operating from European countries deployed operatives to draw huge money from dormant accounts using fake identities/documents, police sources told The Hindu on Thursday.
Mary Francisco, 51, a native of Sri Lanka, moved to Canada many years ago and became a permanent resident there. She was intercepted at the Chennai Airport as she was preparing to board a plane to Mumbai. The suspect was found to possess an Indian passport obtained with fake documents.
She told investigators of the State intelligence how huge money lying unclaimed in bank accounts were targeted by two former members or sympathisers of the LTTE based in Germany and Switzerland. The duo that was part of a larger network of sympathisers operating out of India, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia would facilitate withdrawal of the money by deploying agents with fake documents. The money would be transferred to different bank accounts in India and abroad in the names of companies or individuals and used for works of the “movement”, the sources quoted her as saying.
Acting on the instructions of the two accused persons, Ms. Francisco said she came to India a couple of years ago and moved into a rented premises at Anna Nagar in Chennai. With the help of the rental agreement and domestic LPG connection papers, she managed to open accounts in different banks. With the help of some agents, she obtained a PAN card, Aadhaar card, voter identity card and Indian passport, the sources said.
Francisco alleged she was connected to a few others and assigned the task of withdrawing several crores of rupees lying in a joint account held at Indian Overseas Bank’s Fort Branch in Mumbai. The two accused persons, whom she said were living in Denmark and Switzerland, had claimed that the money was raised for funding the activities of the LTTE, the sources said.
The woman and her two accomplices accessed the details of the original account- holders and forged documents to impersonate their identities. She even managed to activate the mobile phone linked to the account in her name. However, intelligence officials who were tracking the movement of the suspects alerted the immigration authorities and arrested Ms. Francisco when she was about to leave for Mumbai, the sources said, adding that the amount withdrawn illegally from various accounts by various persons who were part of the racket over the years was under investigation.
After the investigating agency found prima facie evidence to invoke provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the National Investigation Agency, which has been investigating a similar case, took over the probe. In the first week of October 2021, the NIA arrested a senior intelligence operative, Satkunam alias Sabesan, 47, of the LTTE in Chennai.
It was alleged that the suspect, also a Sri Lankan national, had transferred a large amount of money to former members or sympathisers to revive the movement. The agency was tracking Satkunam on the basis of inputs that he was involved in the trafficking of arms and drugs from Pakistan to Sri Lanka and used the proceeds of the crime to fund former members of the organisation.
Executive Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi yesterday (28) said that there were three major concerns regarding the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2026. Acknowledging the recent Supreme Court determination, in respect of the above-mentioned Bill, that three of the provisions were not consistent with the Constitution, requiring a special majority in Parliament, with one clause requiring approval by the people at a Referendum, Hettiarachchi said nonetheless PAFFREL had decided to bring their concerns to the notice of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Responding to The Island queries, Hettiarachchci said that PAFFREL sent a letter, dated 24 Sept., to President Dissanayake, regarding the issue at hand.
Petitions against the Bill was heard before a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Shiran Gooneratne, Mahinda Samayawardena and Sampath Wijeratne.
PAFFREL and Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) were among the petitioners who challenged the proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023. “We did so in public interest,” Hettiarachchchi said, adding that three major concerns were (i) the breadth of the proposed redaction power and the proposed criminalisation of certain uses of publicly accessible redacted asset declarations, particularly in relation to freedom of expression, and the public’s right to meaningfully receive and impart information (ii) raising of the State or public-corporation shareholding threshold for certain asset declaration obligations from 25% to 50%, as this could exclude officers of State-linked entities in which the State holds less than 50%, in spite of such entities exercising public functions and managing public resources and (iii)role of the Director General Ranga Dissanayake.
Hettiarachchchi emphasised that though the PARREL appreciated the way CIABOC DG handled his responsibilities, centreing of power on one person was not acceptable.
Hettiarachchi urged President Dissanayake and the 159-member government parliamentary group to pay attention to concerns raised by those who moved court against the controversial Bill and address their concerns though the Parliament received the SC determination.
An International Monetary Fund mission that visited Colombo recently warned that the proposed amendments could weaken the country’s anti-corruption framework.
The mission, led by Evan Papageorgiou, was in the country from 10 to 23 September for discussions on the seventh review of the Extended Fund Facility and the 2026 Article IV consultation. (SF)
The Supreme Court yesterday (28) dismissed two petitions filed by retired Flight Lieutenant Shantha Jayathilake against Deputy Inspector General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Shani Abeysekara and Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne, and Rev. Father Cyril Gamini, alleging them of committing contempt of court.
They were the first cases dealt by the Supreme Court after the enactment of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
The recipient of gallantry medal alleged that contempt of court had been committed through an affidavit previously submitted to the Supreme Court by Shani Abeysekara and Ravi Seneviratne.
The other petition alleged that contempt of court had been committed through the contents of a complaint submitted to the Criminal Investigation Department by Rev. Father Cyril Gamini.
The Supreme Court ordered that both petitions be dismissed without being taken up for hearing.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday (28) named former Minister and leader of the SLPP parliamentary group Namal Rajapaksa as the fourth suspect in the Krrish case before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The MP was named as the fourth suspect in the wake of the arrest and remanding of former Executive Officer and Director of the Krrish Group, Janaki Siriwardena, regarding the payment of Rs. 70 mn to Namal Rajapaksa to facilitate the land transaction. Police arrested Ms. Siriwardena on 24 September and she was remanded till 6 Oct. pending investigations.
The investigation focuses on 4.3 acre land development in the Fort area that began in the 2013-2014 period. Investigations were launched in 2016 by the Yahapalana government, following a complaint lodged by Wasantha Samarasinghe, now a Minister in the current Cabinet.
The Indian company in this controversy is Krrish Transworks Colombo (Pvt.) Ltd .
The CIABOC named Namal Rajapaksa as a suspect in the Krrish case while he was remanded over two cases in respect of Airbus bribery probe. (SF)
Showers above 50 mm expected in Uva, Eastern and Central provinces and in Polonnaruwa and Mullaittivu districts after 2.00 p.m.
PAFFREL raises concerns over Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill
First cases taken up by SC after enactment of 22A dismissed
Now NR named 4th suspect in Krrish case
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