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CAA whistleblower now a suspect with travel ban? 

24 Jan 2022

 
  • Former CAA Director Thushan Gunawardena says he has been made a suspect in Sathosa garlic scam case 
  • Claims immigration authorities prohibited travel overseas 
  BY Buddhika Samaraweera  Former Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Executive Director Thushan Gunawardena has claimed that he had, according to the Immigration and Emigration Department officials, been made a suspect in a case pertaining to the garlic scam which recently took place at the Lanka Sathosa and that a travel ban has been imposed on him in relation to the matter. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (24), he said: “On the morning of 22 January, I went to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake to leave for the US for a business purpose. At that time, after the relevant inspections, the Immigration and Emigration Department officials informed me that I could not go abroad because there was a case against me.”  He further said that he had later asked the officials what the relevant case was about, to which they had then informed him that it was a lawsuit pending in the Welisara Magistrate’s Court (MC).  “They explained to me that there was a case in the Welisara MC making me a suspect. They also informed me that an order had been issued prohibiting me from travelling abroad.”  Speaking further, Gunawardena added that he had not been notified that he had been made a suspect in any case or that such a travel ban had been imposed. He said that as far as he knew, as of only now had he been named as a suspect in the case pertaining to the garlic scam at the Sathosa. Noting that it was he who was the first to reveal the details of the said scam, Gunawardena said that there was a serious question as to how he became a suspect. “I will be filing a fundamental rights (FR) petition against the Police in the Supreme Court (SC), seeking compensation for the damage which was caused to me by their actions,” he added. When contacted by The Morning yesterday, Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa said that he was not in a position to comment on the matter as it was about a judicial matter. In September 2021, Gunawardena resigned from the post of CAA’s Executive Director, claiming that he was under pressure from a Minister and a State Minister in carrying out the activities of the CAA independently. He said that he had received the first call about the said garlic scam and that several Lanka Sathosa officials had been involved in the incident, after which he had received various pressures and even death threats to resign from his post due to his intervention in investigating the matter. He had also lodged a complaint with the Kirulapone Police on 10 October 2021, regarding an incident where a group of persons had arrived at his house in a white van on 7 October 2021. Speaking to The Morning at that time, he said that the incident was definitely related to his previous job as the CAA’s Executive Director and therefore, a complaint was lodged with the Kirulapone Police on 10 October 2021 requesting an investigation into the incident.


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