CDS expected for questioning at CID today

Barring an eleventh hour intervention, the country’s highest ranking military official is expected to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department today for questioning about his role in harbouring the ringleader of a chilling abduction for ransom racket, allegedly run by sections of the Sri Lanka Navy, and preventing the suspect’s arrest. 

Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijeguneratne won a two-month reprieve when President Maithripala Sirisena packed the officer off to Mexico, hours before he was to be questioned by the CID on 10 September. President Sirisena then proceeded to take the CID and the Attorney General to task over the arrest of senior military personnel in connection with high profile investigations without being able to file indictments against them in court. 

In the course of its investigations, the CID found that during his term as Commander of the Navy, Wijeguneratne had harboured the suspect Lt. Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, alias Navy Sampath, who was wanted in connection with the abduction and suspected murder of 11 youth, including five students. Witnesses have testified to having overhead conversations between Wijeguneratne and Navy Sampath, with the former allegedly sternly advising the suspect not to be seen outside the Naval HQ in Fort, lest he fall into the police net. According to B reports filed by the CID in the Fort Magistrate’s Court, Wijeguneratne as Navy Commander was harbouring the suspect while the CID was making repeated requests to the Naval HQ to reveal his whereabouts. 

On Sunday afternoon, the main witness testifying against the Chief of Defence Staff filed a complaint with the Fort Police, saying Wijeguneratne had arrived with a group of officials and attempted to intimidate and assault him in the Navy officers’ Mess, Police Spokesman SSP Ruwan Gunasekera said. The witness, Lt. Commander Laksiri Galagama, managed to escape, and sources said he had gone into hiding following the incident. 

For weeks now, pressure has been building on the CID to question Admiral Wijeguneratne and produce him in court.