Photos by Pradeep Dambarage The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is continuing its investigations into the assets accumulated by Dr. Seigu Siyabdeen Mohammed Shafi, who was ordered to be further remanded last week. Dr. Shafi was produced before the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court on Thursday (11) and was expected to be released on bail. However, the doctor was ordered to be further remanded until 25 July. He is accused of allegedly acquiring assets through suspicious means, performing illegal sterilisation surgeries on pregnant women, and having links to terrorist’s activities. The CID had told the court earlier that there was no evidence to back the allegations. Appearing on behalf of the Attorney General, Deputy Solicitor General Thusith Mudalige informed the court last week that the three-month detention order (DO) against Dr. Shafi was withdrawn on Wednesday (10) after the Ministry of Defence was informed that the evidence against Dr. Shafi was inadequate to prove that he had received funds from a terrorist organisation to promote their activities. The Deputy Solicitor General further stated that the charges levelled against Dr. Shafi for allegedly accumulating assets via suspicious means were being investigated further. He had stressed that any claim that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt pertaining to Dr. Shafi allegedly committing offences that violate the Prevention of Money Laundering Act had not come up as of yet, even though investigations on the matter were currently underway. The Deputy Solicitor General further informed the court that statements should be recorded from the nearly 850 mothers who had lodged complaints claiming that Dr. Shafi had performed illegal sterilisations while conducting caesarean section procedures, and that the bed head tickets of the patients who complained should also be obtained and the matter further investigated. In addition, he had further stated that further investigations should be conducted after obtaining the reports of other doctors who had conducted C-section procedures at the same hospital. He also said a report should be prepared based on this information – the surgeries and other complications. The Deputy Solicitor General had also requested the Magistrate to order the 147 mothers who had complained that they had no children as a result of the C-section performed by Dr. Shafi, to undergo compulsory HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) tests as per the instructions given by a team of specialists. The attorneys appearing for the aggrieved party had informed the court that out of the total number of 17,600 C-sections performed by 20 doctors in the Kurunegala Hospital during the past seven years, 4,372 had been performed by Dr. Shafi. They also highlighted the fact that the CID had not focused on why Dr. Shafi had performed such a large number of C-section operations. They further informed the court that the CID had not paid attention to the fact that the fallopian tube did not have to be squeezed for minutes, but that it could be damaged by just squeezing it for several seconds. Furthermore, the attorneys appearing for the aggrieved party requested the Magistrate’s Court to hand over the investigation to another division as they couldn’t trust the CID in its investigations. Meanwhile, the Magistrate had requested that recommendations on how the HSG tests should be carried out on the 147 mothers be submitted by a team which comprises no less than five professors attached to the University of Colombo. In addition, the attorneys appearing on behalf of the aggrieved party informed the court that details that were uncovered pertaining to the assets, including land and property said to be worth only Rs. 40 million owned by Dr. Shafi, had been underestimated. However, the Magistrate had also stated that he too had questions about the asset estimates. Further, the Magistrate ordered the Government Valuation Department to submit a report on the value of all the assets owned by Dr. Shafi. The attorneys appearing on behalf of the aggrieved party informed the court that the CID had questioned the police officials attached to the Kurunegala Police in front of Dr. Shafi, and requested to provide different CID officials to conduct further investigations. However, it was reported that the Kurunegala Magistrate had ordered the further remanding of Dr. Shafi, considering the seriousness of the charges against him and to avoid any public outrage. It was reported that MP Athuraliye Rathana Thera, leading a large number of aggrieved mothers, was amidst the large crowd present in court to witness the hearing on Thursday. The crowd outside the court complex included groups supporting the aggrieved mothers, representatives of civil society organisations, and supporters of Dr. Shafi. Officials of the CID with ASP B.S. Thisera, Attorneys U.R. De Silva PC, Mohan Weerakkody, senior attorneys-at-law Kalyananda Thiranagama, Indrasiri Senarathne, Chanaka Abeywickrama, Nilushi Uyanwatte, Teddy Fernando, Saman Dissanayake, and Mohan Fernando represented the aggrieved mothers, while attorneys-at-law Anura Maddegoda, Shiraz Noordeen, Hijas Hisbullah, and Sainaz Mohamed represented Dr. Shafi.