Businessman files FR case against arbitrary arrest and detention

By S.S. Selvanayagam

The Supreme Court yesterday (16) fixed for mention on 13 February the Fundamental Rights petition filed by businessman Ramasamy Prabagaran, who had been detained and interrogated inter alia for his purported association with Col. Ranjith Chandrasiri Perera.

Chief Justice Shirani A. Bandaranayake listed the matter for mention, sequent to the move by the Counsel for the Petitioner Businessman for time to obtain instruction. The Attorney General, CID Director, Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) Director, Former SSP of CCD Vass Gunawardena, DIG Anura Senanayake, ASPs Wedasinghe, Ariyaratne, Ravindra and Nayayakkara as well as OIC of the CCD IP Jayatilake, CCD Sergeant, Chief Inspector Percy Perera and SP Mahin Dole of State Intelligence Service (SIS), Wellawatte Police OIC and the IGP are cited as Respondents.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva with K.S. Ratnavale appeared for the Petitioner. Senior State Counsel Shanaka Wijesinghe appeared for the Attorney General. President’s Counsel Faisz Musthapha appeared for the other Respondents.

Counsel for the Petitioner had earlier informed Court that the Petitioner had been discharged. He brought to the attention of the Court that petitioner’s vehicle and apartment unit and a lot of documents and files had been taken into police custody and urged those properties and belongings should be returned to the petitioner.

The Petitioner is a businessman on the business in the sale and marketing of electronic, electrical and other household items in a trade complex in Bambalapitiya.

He stated that after he left for India on 16 May 2009, Wellawatta Police together with CCD and SIS personnel had come to his residence and searched the house and taken into their custody some passports and files connected with his shop and taken over the keys of his shop as well.

The Petitioner had cut short his trip and returned to the country and on 19 May he had reported to the Bambalapitiya Police where the OIC had had no knowledge about this matter and had advised him to go to CCD at Dematagoda. When he went there, there too the officers had had no knowledge about the matter; however they had decided to keep him in custody.

On 21 May, SP Mahin Dole and Chief Inspector Percy Perera had interrogated him in connection with Col. Ranjith Perera. The Petitioner had denied any wrong doing and stated that he had known him over 20 years as a neighbour of a relative in Bandarawela. On 23 May, he had been taken to a room on the third floor of the CCD by SSP Vaas Gunawardana. There had been about 15 policemen in the room and SSP Vaas Gunawardana had taken an iron rod and started hitting him and another policeman from behind had hit him on his right ear with some object, petitioner states. On the same day, his head had been covered by a cellophane bag filled with petrol added with chillie powder. The Petitioner detainee had collapsed.

On 24 May, he had been taken to his shop at Bambalapitiya and his shop had been ransacked and goods to the value of Rs. 35 million had been dismantled, he alleged.

He complained that the police closed and sealed his shop premises without obtaining any court order for search warrant or for the closure of this shop. His personal computer and 39 files relating to his business had been taken by the police but no receipt of taking custody of these items had been given to him.

On 26 May, the ASP had arrived with 10 other officers and interrogated him about his association with Col. Ranjith Perera and tortured him. An iron pole had been kept at the back horizontally, around which both his arms had been tied so that his upper torso could not be moved independently and his head had been covered with a shopping bag filled with petrol and chillie powder. In that position, he had been hit with broken arms of wooden chairs and S-Lon pipes, he complained.

After three days, he had been again taken to the third floor where he had been tortured. He had been hit on his head with a nailed wooden plank with the sharp ends partly protruding on one side, he stated. On 8 June, he had been taken to a bathroom upstairs and hung upside down and beaten with wooden clubs and chillie powder had been applied inside the foreskin of his genitals and put into his mouth as well. When he pleaded for water, hot water had been poured into his mouth, he said.

One particular day, Inspector Jayatilake with the collaborated with SSP Vass Gunawardana and SI Rangarajan had plucked the toenails of both his legs, he stated. Another mode of torture had been practiced was immersing the detainee in a barrel full of water and submerging his head, he added.

On 17 June, he had been handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location which he understood to be a camp where he had been stripped naked and was again hit with a nail-driven wooden plank and leather belts. He had been also given electric shock to both his knees, he alleged.

He had then been compelled to place his signature on several documents in Sinhala although he could neither read nor write, he stated.

In July 2009, he was transferred to the CID. In September 2009, during the visit of Colombo Chief Magistrate Hapuarachchi, he had complained to him, where the Magistrate had expressed shock and dismay at the injuries he had sustained. The Magistrate had ordered that he be sent for medical examination by JMO. However, the CID did not comply with that direction, he stated.

He stated that he has not been served with a detention order or any other lawful order to have him under custody.

He complained that his fundamental right to freedom from torture, right to equality and equal protection of the law as well as freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention had been violated by the Respondents. He is seeking an order from the Court to award him a compensation of Rs. 90,000,000.