(Lanka-e-News)The owner of Millenium bookshop , Kapila Chaminda Bandara who was abducted on 11th night was yesterday night (13) brought to Kelanimulla district and dropped .He revealed his terror experience and ordeal he faced to Lanka e news :
‘On the 11th at about 8.30 p.m. I was arrested. Rather I was abducted in fact. When I was about to close my shop , about six individuals who came in a white Van brandished a pistol at me and forcibly put me into the Van. At that moment they told me and those around that they were from the CID.’.
As soon as they put me in the Van they blindfolded me and tied my hands. I was made to lie prostrate in the last seat of the Van and transported . I was most uncomfortably positioned on the legs of the abductors. For about two to three hours we travelled .
After we came to a certain place they made me to alight .They took me into some place . Then they removed the knot around my hands and put a sort of a chain round my two hands and tied to something on a wall. Ordinarily when I am tied in that position , my right hand gets released from my forehead. When I told this to them , they released my right hand and warned me ‘ if ever you try to take off the blindfold with that hand , you will be shot and killed’. That night they brought meals and gave me.
On the following morning , they took me to the latrine. But my eyes were still blindfolded. From time to time I questioned ‘why were I brought here?’ . Nobody gave an answer. They only warned me to keep my mouth shut , or they will shoot and kill me. But did not tell why I was abducted.
The next day ,, that was on the 13th ,noon, they took me out and tied me to a chair. They seemed as though they were going to question me. They told somebody’s name and asked whether I am his ‘golaya’ ( assistant) . I do not remember the name they asked. I was in a state of anguish and worry. Even my name has a ‘thushara’ piece . I am Chaminda Thushara Bandara. I feel they were questioning and searching for a Thushara. Later somebody called boss came. That person when he was passing by , asked who is this ? They went into another room and began yelling out at each other. All this while I was blindfolded.
They left me like that . They brought meals and gave me. Then they released me from the chair and tied my hands with some thing like a rag. They put me into the Van. Like earlier , they took me in the Van for some hours. Later they dropped me from the Van after removing the rag round my hands. Thereafter they removed the blindfold and told me to go but instructed not to turn back and look. If I do, they said , I will be shot and killed. At that time it was raining . Though my blindfold was removed I could not see anything at that moment. I moved forward . On both sides there were something like paddy fields. After traveling some distance , I turned back and looked , there was no Van. I continued my walk. Later I came to a place like a boutique. It was about 9.00 p.m.. Then I came to know I was at Kelanimulla.
When I was being abducted , my phone had been removed by them. When I was being released , my phone had been put back in my pocket.
I took a call to my friend from my phone and told where I was. A vehicle was brought . On the day I was abducted I had money with me. They had taken my money too when I was abducted . But when I was released those monies too had been put back into my pocket.
Bandara’s evaluation regarding the abductors based on his judgment is as follows:
‘The abductors had weapons in their hands. Most of the time they spoke in filthy and foul language. I am not in politics. As far back as in 2003 , I worked for a very brief period for the JVP and left. Thereafter I got married , had children and carried on my business developing it. I don’t have any such business enemies. I think they have wrongly mistaken me for somebody else.’
Interestingly ,in January 2010 , Lanka e news journalist Prageeth Ekneliyagoda went missing. He too was abducted similarly in August 2009 prior to his disappearance. He was in identical circumstances kept for two days and released at an unknown destination . Bandara’s tale is 90 % similar to that of Ekneliyagoda when he was released. Ekneliyagoda too after the grueling experience thought his abductors made a mistake when they abducted him . But second time…
LeN