Two who claimed ‘white van’ incidents remanded till 27 Dec.

Two persons who had made controversial statements about ‘white van’ incidents during a media briefing with former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne have been remanded until 27 December.

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court remanded two suspects who had purportedly revealed information in connection with the abduction, robbery and torture of persons in white vans, when they were produced before the courts today by the Criminal Investigations Department

The suspects Athula Sanjeewa Madanayake and Anthony Douglas Fernando were arrested for providing false information regarding the white van abductions during a press conference held with former Minister Rajitha Senaratne during the last Presidential Election.

The CID told court that the two suspects, who were present at a media briefing with former Minister Rajitha Senaratne on 10 November, had revealed information about the abduction, torture and robbery of white vans and claimed that the abductions were carried out with the knowledge of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the then presidential candidate.

At the media briefing on 10 November with the former Minister, Athula Sanjeewa Madanayake has claimed that he was abducted by a group of people in a white van while transporting a stock of gold from previously LTTE-held areas. Meanwhile, Anthony Douglas Fernando has claimed that he was a driver of a ‘white van’.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had commenced an investigation into a media briefing, on a complaint lodged by the national organiser of Sinhalaye Organisation, Gangodawila Kumudu Pradeep Sanjeewa Perera. Responding to a question raised by the magistrate, the CID stated that it was revealed that the statements made by the suspects were not correct.

Accordingly, they were detained and questioned for 72 hours under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and they were produced before courts under the Penal Code. The CID requested that the suspects be remanded as the investigations are not over. Colombo chief magistrate Lanka Jayaratne accepted the request and remanded the two suspects until 27 December.