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Shani requests IGP to restore his security

29 Jun 2021

 

  • Cites death threats to him and family

  • Mentions potential acts of revenge by those he investigated

  By Pamodi Waravita   Former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shani Abeysekara, who was released from prison last week, has written to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne, requesting that his security detail be restored in light of death threats levelled against him and his family. The letter has stated that persons who were determined to be culprits by various courts around the country as a result of his investigations while in active service in the CID would want revenge on him. As such, the letter states, it is the duty of the State to protect him under the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act, No. 4 of 2015. The letter has also pointed out that the behaviour of the policemen who had been involved in his arrest shows that there is a threat to both his and his family’s lives. Abeysekara was arrested in July 2020, following his interdiction from the Police service in January 2020. He was arrested on allegations of the fabrication of evidence to allegedly frame a false case against former Deputy Inspector General of Police Vaas Gunawardena. Following the hearing of a petition in the Court of Appeal, Abeysekara was enlarged on bail on 16 June after being detained for nearly a year in prison. The legal representation for Abeysekara had pointed out that no credible evidence had been brought before the Court to substantiate these charges. CID Sub-Inspector Sugath Mendis, who initially made the allegations against Abeysekara, later claimed that Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) officers had coerced him into making the statement. Abeysekara had the oversight of many high-profile investigations during his time in the CID, including that of the murder of late Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, the disappearance of cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, and the case involving the Navy being implicated in the abductions of youths.  


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