Former head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Sri Lanka, and Senior Deputy Inspector General (retired ) Ravi Senaviratna police has filed a petition at the Supreme Court against the imminent infringement his fundamental rights in way of unlawful arrest.
In his FR application he has exposed number of incidents that show complicity of the State Intelligence Service in the events leading up to Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka in April 2019.
Excerpt from the FR application:
The Petitioner further states that the DMI and SIS are suspected to have conspired to plant the motorcycle jacket in a school bag, to mislead CID investigations on the murder of two police officers in to prevent them from discovering the real assailants involved in the murder. The Petitioner further states that due to the confusions caused by the SIS and DMI, CID officers discovered only after the attacks of Easter Sunday, that the murder of the two officers was committed by the NTJ terror group led by M.C.M Saharan, which is more fully described in the following paragraphs.
32. The Petitioner further states that at the time of the raid, the team of CID officers have arrested 4 suspects namely, A.H.M. Mufiz, A.H.M. Hamas, M.N.M. Nafrid and M.N.M. Navid who were in Lactowatte. The Petitioner states that the aforesaid 4 suspects were detained under Section 6(1) and 9(1) of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 for a period of 90 days for further interrogation. The Petitioner inter alia states that the following facts were revealed from the aforementioned suspects namely A.H.M. Mufiz, A.H.M. Hamas through the extensive interrogations conducted by the CID;
i) M.C.M. Saharan was the leader of the NTJ,
ii) That M.C.M. Saharan has conducted extremist preaching and workshops,
iii) That M.C.M. Saharan has conducted short training courses to NTJ members relating to weapons in Nuwara Eliya,
iv) That all the members in NTJ were given an alias apart from their original name,
v) That the members of this organization have been categorized under two teams as Suicide Attackers and Lone Wolf Attackers,
vi) That M.C.M. Saharan and head members of the organization has engaged in collecting weapons and manufacturing explosives in Lactowatte, Puttalam,
vii) That M.C.M. Saharan has planned to establish a training camp at Lactowatte.
33. The Petitioner further states that from the interrogations conducted on A.H.M. Mufiz and A.H.M. Hamas, the CID investigation officers were able to reveal that the person named M.C.M. Saharan is intending to carry out several extremist activities in Sri Lanka in order to cause communal disharmony.
34. The Petitioner further states that on or around 17.01.2019, the then director of the CID, SSP Mr. Shani Abeysekara has visited the safe house and/or training base at Lactowatte, Vanathavilluva. The Petitioner states that he was informed that without any prior notice made to the CID, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mallawarachchi, the officers from the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Lieutenant Colonel Anuruddha Karunaratne and Captain Nanayakkara from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and officers from the Special branch with each of their separate teams have been presented to conduct investigations. The Petitioner further states that officers from the Special Task Force have also been presented at the site to receive briefings from the CID officers when the contraband explosives and firearms tied to M.C.M. Saharan and NTJ were found by CID officers. The Petitioner further states that he was informed that the government analyst was also presented at the said site. The Petitioner further states that the officers of the SIS and DMI were also given permission to interrogate the aforementioned 4 suspects who were arrested from the Lactowatte raid and to examine and take photographs of the productions of the NTJ.
38. The Petitioner states that on 02.02.2019, the Petitioner, together with the then director CID MR, Shani Abeysekara had met the then President Maithripala Sirisena and explained that the attacks on Buddhist statues in Mawanella and the illegally storing over 100kg of explosives in Lactowatta, Vanathavilluva are suspected to be done by the same group, and therefore this matter should be given serious consideration. The Petitioner further states that since the CID was not a member of the Security Council, the Petitioner, has requested the then President Maithripala Sirisena, to bring this matter to the attention of the Security Council with a view of getting assistance from the intelligence services and the military to support the CID to prevent any terrorist bombings or extremist activities. The Petitioner states that although the then President Maithripala Sirisena, has mentioned that he will give an opportunity to the Petitioner to present a briefing of the aforementioned matter at the Security Council, the said undertaking was not put into effect by the then President Maithripala Sirisena.
39. The Petitioner states that after the Wanathavilluwa recovery, the CID officers conducted further investigations to arrest M.C.M Saharan and his close associates in NTJ. During the said investigations the CID officers were able to identify a person called Badurdeen Mohamed Mohideen alias Army Mohideen who was a suspect of an incident that took place in Aliyar Junction on 10.03.2017. The Petitioner further states that he became aware that the CID officers have investigated the background of the said Army Mohidden and that it has been revealed that the said Army Mohidden has been a close associate of M.C.M. Saharan, and after the aforementioned Aliyar incident he has severed his ties with M.C.M Saharan. The Petitioner states that after the said Aliyar incident, a warrant had been issued to arrest him from the Magistrate’s court of Kalmunai. The Petitioner states that later on, Police Sergeant Nandalal and Sub Inspector of Police Dias attached to the CID, has used him as an informant to trace NTJ and its activities. The Petitioner states that after the Easter Sunday attacks, efforts were made to impugn the bona fides of these CID officers for using the said Army Mohideen as an informant for investigations however, the said Army Mohideen has not to-date been named as a suspect in investigations into any of the attacks that took place on or subsequent to 21.st of April 2019.
63. The Petitioner further states that he became aware that the then SDIG SIS Nilantha Jayawardena, has sent a report to the CID for the first time providing full details of the NTJ command structure and evidence of their involvement in the killings of the two Police Constables in Vavunathivu a few hours after the Easter Attacks. The Petitioner states that the CID has been searching for M.C.M. Saharan for the past four months with no support from the Intelligence Services and if this specific information related to the NTJ Command structure and the murder of the two constables in Vavunathivu were made available to CID or provided to the Security Council prior to the attacks by the then SDIG SIS Nilantha Jayawardena it may have been possible to prevent the attacks.
Further Ravi senaviratna seeks compensation in the sum of one hundred million rupees or such as s Your Lordships’ Court deems equitable in terms of Article 126(4) of the Constitution for the damage caused to his reputation and goodwill he has earned as a respectable police officer has been gravely tarnished by the unsubstantiated, malicious and preposterous accusations leveled against the Petitioner by entertaining the anonymous petition marked as P-2 by the Respondents and for the attempts to have him arrested and detained.
The petition: FR petititon – SDIG Ravi Senvirathna