• Public Security Minister says fresh statement may be recorded, dismisses claims about detention cost; Alles and Deshabandu also under probe

The Ministry of Public Security has instructed the Police to check whether the previous statements made by organised crime suspect Nadun Chinthaka Wickramaratne alias ‘Harak Kata’ contain the recent allegation made by him that former Public Security Minister Tiran Alles and suspended Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon demanded a Rs. 300 million bribe from him.

While being escorted by the Police and the Police Special Task Force after attending a hearing at the Colombo High Court on Wednesday (14), Wickramaratne claimed that he was being detained in Tangalle at a cost of around Rs. 10 million a month because he had refused to pay a Rs. 300 million bribe to Alles and Tennakoon.

In response to a query by The Daily Morning as to whether the Police would investigate the allegation, Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala said that Wickramaratne, Alles, and Tennakoon are all currently under investigation, and that any relevant details would come out in the course of those investigations.

“He (Wickramaratne) was taken to Court several times and only made this allegation on Wednesday. If it was true, he should have mentioned it in his initial statements to the Police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). I have instructed the Police to check whether this claim was included in his previous statements, and if not, to record a fresh one. He can’t just say things to the media, can he? Such allegations should be made to the proper authorities,” the Minister emphasised.

Commenting on Wickramaratne’s claim that he is being detained at a cost of around Rs. 10 million a month because he refused to pay the said sum of money to Alles and Tennakoon, Wijepala said that the detention was being carried out by the relevant law enforcement agencies, not by Alles or Tennakoon personally.

“Whether it costs Rs. 10 million or more, those who have committed serious crimes must be detained. If they are abroad, we have to bring them back – and that process also involves a cost. But, the damage that they do to society is much worse than the cost of detaining them. People like him, who commit crimes, don’t need to worry about government spending. That’s the Government’s responsibility.”

In March 2023, during Alles’ tenure as the Public Security Minister, Wickramaratne and Salindu Malshika Gunaratne alias ‘Panadura Kudu Salindu’ were extradited to Sri Lanka from Madagascar by a CID team. Since then, Wickramaratne has been detained at the Tangalle Old Prison under the custody of the Terrorism Investigation Division.

In November 2023, Alles claimed that Wickramaratne had attempted to offer him Rs. 700 million to avoid being extradited to Sri Lanka.