Attorney General instructs
Thursday, September 17, 2015
The Attorney General's Department has given written instructions to the Police FCID to arrest former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and former TRC Director General Anusha Palpita in connection with the alleged misappropriation of Rs. 600 million. With this development, the arrests of Weeratunga and Palpita, two high profile state officials under the previous government, are imminent, sources from the Attorney General's Department told the Daily News.
The Attorney General (AG) had filed action in the High Court of Colombo against Lalith Chandrakumar Weeratunga, the Secretary to the former President, and Anusha Palpita, former Director-General of the Sri Lanka Telecom Regulatory Commission (SLTRC) for misappropriating Rs 600 million from TRC.
The Police FCID investigated into allegations that the money siphoned off from the TRC had been used for distributing sil redi among Buddhist devotees four days before the Presidential election, in January.
The AG has filed action against Weeratunga and Palpila in the Colombo High Court in connection with the case.
Colombo High Court Judge, Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena on Monday decided to take up the case on September 18 and requested the AG to produce the initial reports of the Magistrate's Court and the Court productions on that date.
The AG has indicted Weeratunga and Palpita under public property Act. Twenty one prosecution witnesses including Elections Commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya and the former President's coordinating secretary (religious affairs) Ven. Vatinapane Somananda Thera have been cited, and 15 Court productions were presented.
