By Maheesha Mudugamuwa
Underworld leader Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush was arrested at a party held at a luxury hotel in Dubai, along with 30 others including several notorious underworld criminals, drug traffickers, and a few artists including the famous singer Amal Perera and his son Nedeemal Perera. This group is still in the custody of the Dubai Police.
However, the drama that started soon after the arrest of the drug kingpin in Dubai last month is still ongoing, with politicians pointing fingers at each other each week, claiming that Madush had connections with them.
The drama started with Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera as rumours circulated that a diplomatic passport holder was in the group arrested with Madush and that he was one of Samaraweera’s secretaries.
Later, the Minister denied any links with Makandure Madush or any of the underworld leaders and demanded a proper investigation into the allegation.
Following that, it was said that the diplomatic passport holder was connected to one of the Pradeshiya Sabha members in the South. In the days that followed, attention shifted to former Cabinet Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and his son Pasanda Yapa Abeywardena. MP Abeywardena stated that neither he nor any of his family members had any connection with drug kingpins.
Later, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene confirmed to The Sunday Morning that there was no diplomatic passport holder in the group arrested in Dubai.
Again, a series of allegations levelled against UPFA MP Niroshan Premaratne led him to give a fully-prepared speech at Parliament, explaining his entire life story.
Cocaine drama
Then started the cocaine saga as State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake alleged that there were few a cabinet ministers who were using cocaine.
Since the majority of the Cabinet consists of UNPers, the party was forced to conduct an internal inquiry over the allegation through a special committee led by Minister Lakshman Kiriella. The committee had prepared a report and submitted it to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and it was later returned to the UNP’s working committee.
As The Sunday Morning reported last week, none of the names were revealed to the UNP special committee or to the working committee by the Ramanayake. He told The Sunday Morning that he would reveal those names to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) if he was summoned before them.
But the story didn’t end there as convener of Voice Against Corruption (VAC), former Parliamentarian Wasantha Samarasinghe noted that a photo he received clearly depicted a connection between a person named Mohammed Riskan – affiliated with infamous drug lord “Makandure Madush” – and Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Samarasinghe supported his opinion by adding that Wickremesinghe had the honour of cutting the ceremonial ribbon at a new business venture that was opened by Riskan in Wattala. He also noted that Riskan had also opened a taxi service, which was opened by Mujibur Rahman and also the PM. Samarasinghe boldly charged that both these enterprises were fronts to launder illegitimate money.
Allegations galore
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Samarasinghe said that not only the PM, but also Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa had connections with drug kingpins.
His opinion was that there should be a proper investigation into those who became rich overnight, so that the law enforcement authorities would then be able to find links between the drug kingpins and the politicians.
As we reported last week, crimes and drugs seem to be entwined in politics and therefore, there seems to be no end to the blame game.
Since the fresh accusation was against UNP MP Rahman, The Sunday Morning contacted him for his side of the story.
“I know Riskan for a long period and he invited me, former Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, and the Prime Minister to participate in the opening ceremony of his new cab service. When we associate with friends, we don’t investigate who they are close to. And he had also been working with us for a long time. It’s not fair to accuse someone after he’s died,” Rahman added.
Mohammed Riskan was shot dead last year.
“I informed the family members to file a defamation case against Samarasinghe,” he added.
“It’s a question of how he gained knowledge of whether Riskan had connections with Madush. The way the allegations are being levelled cannot be accepted,” Rahman stressed.
When asked about the internal inquiry on Minister Ramanayake’s cocaine allegation, Rahman said the UNP had clearly said that the names revealed by Ramanayake were in the Opposition parties and not the UNP.
However, Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) Director T.C.A. Dhanapala told The Sunday Morning that they had never investigated such allegations levelled by politicians or the connections between the politicians and the drug kingpins.
Instead, he requested the politicians to make a statement to the PNB with the evidence they had.
“If we get a proper request, we could investigate the matter. Otherwise, the PNB would not investigate the matters reported in the media,” the Director noted.
Underworld leader Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush was arrested at a party held at a luxury hotel in Dubai, along with 30 others including several notorious underworld criminals, drug traffickers, and a few artists including the famous singer Amal Perera and his son Nedeemal Perera. This group is still in the custody of the Dubai Police.
However, the drama that started soon after the arrest of the drug kingpin in Dubai last month is still ongoing, with politicians pointing fingers at each other each week, claiming that Madush had connections with them.
The drama started with Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera as rumours circulated that a diplomatic passport holder was in the group arrested with Madush and that he was one of Samaraweera’s secretaries.
Later, the Minister denied any links with Makandure Madush or any of the underworld leaders and demanded a proper investigation into the allegation.
Following that, it was said that the diplomatic passport holder was connected to one of the Pradeshiya Sabha members in the South. In the days that followed, attention shifted to former Cabinet Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and his son Pasanda Yapa Abeywardena. MP Abeywardena stated that neither he nor any of his family members had any connection with drug kingpins.
Later, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene confirmed to The Sunday Morning that there was no diplomatic passport holder in the group arrested in Dubai.
Again, a series of allegations levelled against UPFA MP Niroshan Premaratne led him to give a fully-prepared speech at Parliament, explaining his entire life story.
Cocaine drama
Then started the cocaine saga as State Minister Ranjan Ramanayake alleged that there were few a cabinet ministers who were using cocaine.
Since the majority of the Cabinet consists of UNPers, the party was forced to conduct an internal inquiry over the allegation through a special committee led by Minister Lakshman Kiriella. The committee had prepared a report and submitted it to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and it was later returned to the UNP’s working committee.
As The Sunday Morning reported last week, none of the names were revealed to the UNP special committee or to the working committee by the Ramanayake. He told The Sunday Morning that he would reveal those names to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) if he was summoned before them.
But the story didn’t end there as convener of Voice Against Corruption (VAC), former Parliamentarian Wasantha Samarasinghe noted that a photo he received clearly depicted a connection between a person named Mohammed Riskan – affiliated with infamous drug lord “Makandure Madush” – and Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Samarasinghe supported his opinion by adding that Wickremesinghe had the honour of cutting the ceremonial ribbon at a new business venture that was opened by Riskan in Wattala. He also noted that Riskan had also opened a taxi service, which was opened by Mujibur Rahman and also the PM. Samarasinghe boldly charged that both these enterprises were fronts to launder illegitimate money.
Allegations galore
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Samarasinghe said that not only the PM, but also Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa had connections with drug kingpins.
His opinion was that there should be a proper investigation into those who became rich overnight, so that the law enforcement authorities would then be able to find links between the drug kingpins and the politicians.
As we reported last week, crimes and drugs seem to be entwined in politics and therefore, there seems to be no end to the blame game.
Since the fresh accusation was against UNP MP Rahman, The Sunday Morning contacted him for his side of the story.
“I know Riskan for a long period and he invited me, former Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, and the Prime Minister to participate in the opening ceremony of his new cab service. When we associate with friends, we don’t investigate who they are close to. And he had also been working with us for a long time. It’s not fair to accuse someone after he’s died,” Rahman added.
Mohammed Riskan was shot dead last year.
“I informed the family members to file a defamation case against Samarasinghe,” he added.
“It’s a question of how he gained knowledge of whether Riskan had connections with Madush. The way the allegations are being levelled cannot be accepted,” Rahman stressed.
When asked about the internal inquiry on Minister Ramanayake’s cocaine allegation, Rahman said the UNP had clearly said that the names revealed by Ramanayake were in the Opposition parties and not the UNP.
However, Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) Director T.C.A. Dhanapala told The Sunday Morning that they had never investigated such allegations levelled by politicians or the connections between the politicians and the drug kingpins.
Instead, he requested the politicians to make a statement to the PNB with the evidence they had.
“If we get a proper request, we could investigate the matter. Otherwise, the PNB would not investigate the matters reported in the media,” the Director noted.