brand logo

Bathiudeen allegedly caught using mobile

02 Sep 2021

  • To be ordered before tribunal
  • Lawyer claims mobile ‘introduced’ to cell
By Buddhika Samaraweera and Aazam Ameen Prisons Department officials have, on 1 September, taken into their custody a mobile phone that was allegedly in the possession of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition Parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen, who is currently detained in the Magazine Prison in Colombo. Speaking to the media yesterday (2), Prisons Spokesman and Commissioner Chandana Ekanayake stated that prison officials had seen Bathiudeen on a phone call as they approached the cell where he (Bathiudeen) was being held at the Magazine Prison. “Although the suspect had tried to throw the mobile phone out of the window of the cell when the officers saw it, the mobile phone was taken into custody by the officials, after which it was handed over to the intelligence units for further investigations,” he said. He added that Bathiudeen would be summoned before a prison tribunal for possession of a contraband item, which could not be in the possession of an inmate under the Prisons Ordinance. Bathiudeen, who was arrested on 24 April 2021 for his alleged links with the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019, has also been named as the fifth suspect in the case filed over the death of a 16-year-old girl who was employed as a domestic maid at his residence in Colombo last month. However, representing Bathiudeen, Attorney-at-Law Rushdie Habeeb claimed that the mobile phone was an element that was “introduced” into his cell. “They are trying to introduce things, this is nothing strange,” he told The Morning. Habeeb also said that no contraband has been recovered from his client’s cell in the past. However, numerous items were discovered in cells in the vicinity of Bathiudeen’s cell. “Nothing has been recovered from his cell before. They found items in cells close to him and now they are trying to introduce such items into my client’s cell too,” he charged. Despite this development, Habeeb iterated that his client will continue to be represented in court, and that “the truth will be brought to light”. The Prisons Department had earlier taken steps to refer an incident, where Bathiudeen had allegedly levelled a death threat against a prison hospital doctor on 15 August, to a prison tribunal which will be headed by a magistrate. Commenting on the matter on an earlier occasion, Ekanayake said that a preliminary investigation into the incident was carried out under the supervision of an Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) after which it was decided to refer the matter to a prison tribunal. “A preliminary investigation was carried out under an Assistant Superintendent of Prisons into allegations of insulting a doctor, making death threats, and the obstruction of duty inside the Magazine Prison. According to the report of that investigation, in accordance with the Prisons Ordinance, it was decided to refer the relevant case before a prison tribunal,” he added. Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nihal Thalduwa recently told The Morning that the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) is also conducting an investigation into the incident where Bathiudeen had allegedly threatened a doctor. According to him, statements have been recorded from prison officials so far. In addition, he said that permission was obtained from the relevant court to record statements from a prisoner as a witness.  


More News..