Sunanda Deshapriya.
According to informed sources, there is an attempt to suppress the ongoing investigation into the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.
There was serious suspicion that the Tripoli unit of the army was involved in the murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, 15 years ago.
The Rajapaksa government worked to cover up the murder from the beginning. The forensic medical officer, a Rajapaksa loyalist, gave a false conclusion that he had been shot. However, it was later confirmed that he had been stabbed with a sharp weapon.
Another story was published by the pro-government media that Lasantha had been killed over a woman’s issue.
Tripoli Camp
However, it was later revealed that the mobile phone numbers used by the motorcyclists who chased Lasantha were linked to the Tripoli army camp.
The army has not yet provided the criminal investigators with the names of the army members who used those mobile phones that day.
The current ruling National People’s Power Party has promised more than once that Lasantha’s killers will be brought to justice.
The Lasantha murder was one of the first decisions taken by the National People’s Power Party government to include crimes that require expedited investigations.
The current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has also repeatedly vowed to take appropriate action regarding the Lasantha murder.
However, the government does not seem prepared to establish an independent prosecutor’s office, another of the National People’s Power Party’s thorniest issues. This is a very important step that should have been taken within the first hundred days.
Minister who is not fit for the job
Legal experts say that the Justice Minister of the National People’s Power Party government is not a capable person. He was never a leading lawyer.
As a result, the government is now forced to rely on the decisions of the Attorney General, Parinda Ranasinghe, appointed by Ranil Rajapaksa.
Ranil Rajapaksa appointed Parinda Ranasinghe as the Attorney General, replacing Ayesha Jinasena, who was more senior. She is a legal scholar and an excellent officer who did not succumb to political influence.
Ranil Rajapaksa’s AG
Once an Attorney General is appointed, he can only be removed by impeachment. The Attorney General’s Department in this country has been tainted by Attorney Generals who acted illegally to appease governing political masters.
Ansar Hazar Maulana has stated that former Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, whom Ranil Rajapaksa tried in vain to extend his term hoping to make him Chief Justice, was appointed at the behest of Basil Rajapaksa.
What is happening now is the suppression of evidence in the Lasantha Wickramatunga murder case and the release of three suspects.
AG’s letter
On January 27 this year, Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe sent a letter to the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department stating that he intends to take no further legal action against the suspects in the Lasantha murder case, Prem Ananda Udalagam, Hettiarachchige Don Tissasiri Sugathapala, and Vitarana Arachchige Sirimevan Prasanna Nanayakkara. He also stated that the court should be informed that they can be released. After taking such action, the Attorney General should be informed within 14 days of receiving the letter.
Here, Prem Ananda Udalagama is the intelligence officer who was identified by Lasantha’s driver as the one who kidnapped him after Lasantha’s murder. He was a Sergeant Major. This identification took place on July 7, 2016, before Mount Lavinia Additional Magistrate Lochana Weerasinghe.
The driver, who had alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was involved in Lasantha’s murder, was abducted and threatened to keep his mouth shut. Otherwise, he was threatened with the same fate that befell Lasantha.
Hettiarachchige Don Tissasiri Sugathapala, who has been recommended for release, was the then Chief Inspector of the Crime Branch of the Mount Lavinia Police at the time of the murder. It was he who found the notebook in the car in which Lasantha had written down the numbers of the motorcycles chasing him. That was a piece of evidence that could have identified the murderers.
The Note Book that disappeared
The third person recommended for release, Vitarana Arachchige Sirimevan Prasanna Nanayakkara, is the DIG in charge of the Mount Lavinia Police Division at that time. He is accused of having obtaining Lasantha’s notebook from Tissasiri Sugathapala and destroying it. DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara threatened Police Inspector Tissasiri Sugathapala saying that “ if you do not want to face the same fate as Lasantha Wickrematunge you betterr hand over the note book to me”.
However, the pages with the motorcycle numbers were photocopied and hidden by Tissasiri Sugathapala and later found by the Criminal Investigation Department.
The police investigators are surprised to receive such an order while the Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the murder of Lasantha under the National People’s Power government.
DSG Janaka Bandara and conflict of Interests
The report for this release order was prepared by Janatha Bandara, a Deputy Solicitor in the Attorney General’s Department, according to reports.
In a case against Janaka Bandara before the Gota’s “Pissu Poosa” (Mad Cat) Revenge Committee, the famous President’s Counsel Ramesh Silva appeared for him.
On August 8, 2021, on August 4, the then Senior State Counsel Janaka Bandara of the Attorney General’s Department informed the Special High Court that AG would withdraw the charges against former Navy Commander Karannagoda in the abduction case of 11 youths. Janaka Bandara was also the one who had been dealing with the case for a long time.
Surprisingly, Janaka Bandara’s lawyer Romesh Silva also appeared for Karannagoda as well.
A dark spot in Janaka Bandara’s history is this conflict of interests. It is said that he was the one who advised the Attorney General to release the suspects in the Lasantha murder case.
Another Additional Solicitor General in the Attorney General’s Department has opposed this decision. It is understood that he is Dilan Ratnayake. The Attorney General has accepted Janaka Bandara’s conclusion.
The answer: Independent prosecutor’s office
If the Anura Kumara Dissanayake government does not move forward with the establishment of an independent prosecutor’s office as promised, there will be no end to such incidents.
This is how the deep state operates. Their tentacles are everywhere like an octopus. The Attorney General’s Department is no exception.