News
Kariapper: Question JP before whom IGP in hiding signed affidavit
By Saman Indrajith
SJB MP Nizam Kariapper told Parliament that if the CID genuinely wants to capture IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, who is evading arrest, all they need to do is locate and question the Justice of the Peace before whom Tennakoon signed his affidavit, which was submitted to the Court of Appeal, along with his writ application.
Speaking during the third reading debate of Budget 2025, under the expenditure heads for the Ministries of Science and Technology and Digital Economy, Kariapper said that following the Court’s order for his arrest, Tennakoon had submitted an application to the Court of Appeal, seeking a writ order to prevent his arrest. “This application must be accompanied by an affidavit signed by Tennakoon in front of a JP. All of these documents are with the Court of Appeal. All the CID has to do is find that JP, because he should be aware of Tennakoon’s whereabouts,” Kariapper explained.
Kariapper also demanded to know from the government to what extent it had used technology to ensure national security and public safety. “You cannot capture the IGP who is under an arrest warrant. The masterminds of several crimes are still at large. You cannot retake the presidential palaces, find those responsible for the Central Bank bond scam, or capture the killers of suspects in police custody. The question is whether this digital technology that cannot be used for public safety and national security is needed in other fields?” Kariapper asked.
He then quoted a Sinhala saying, “Yuddeta nethi Kaduwa Kos Kotannada” (Is the sword that is not available in war for chopping jackfruit?). He further remarked that this could be altered to suggest, “Digital technology not used for national security is only good for TikTok.”
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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