The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon – currently temporarily suspended from performing the duties and functions of the said office – who appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court (MC) yesterday morning (19), has been ordered to be remanded until today (20) by the Court.
Tennakoon had surrendered to the Matara MC earlier yesterday after evading arrest for nearly 20 days. Following Tennakoon’s appearance before Court, the case regarding the 2023 shooting near the W15 Hotel in Weligama was taken up yesterday afternoon through a motion before the Matara MC.
The Matara MC had previously ordered the arrest of eight former officers of the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD), including Tennakoon, and named them as suspects in the shooting incident that occurred in front of the W15 Hotel in the Pelena area of Weligama, Matara, on 31 December 2023. Following this, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) was instructed to arrest and present the eight individuals, including Tennakoon, before Court.
Earlier, Police investigations were ongoing to locate Tennakoon, who had been evading arrest for several days. However, CID teams were unable to locate the Police Chief.
On Monday (17), the Court of Appeal (CA) dismissed the writ petition filed by Tennakoon, in which he sought an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the arrest order issued by the Matara MC in connection with the shooting incident. Subsequently, the CA ordered the CID to take immediate steps to arrest and present Tennakoon before Court. The ruling was delivered by a CA bench, comprising the Acting President of the CA M. Tahir Mohammed Laffar and Justice K.M. Sarath Dissanayake, who announced that the petition would be dismissed without a hearing. The petition had been taken up for consideration on 12 March, during which Tennakoon’s legal representatives requested an interim injunction to stay the arrest warrant issued against him. Also, Tennakoon’s legal representative submitted a motion to the CA regarding the petition, requesting permission to submit additional documents related to the case; this motion was filed ahead of the appeal decision on his writ petition.
Additionally, an agreement was reached between the Attorney General (AG) and the legal counsel of the suspects implicated in the 2023 shooting incident near a hotel in Weligama. In this regard, the AG issued a special notice on 16 March regarding the order to arrest Tennakoon and six other suspects in connection with the incident. As per the agreement, the AG directed the CID not to arrest the Officer-in-Charge of the CCD and five other suspected individuals, excluding Tennakoon, who was wanted in connection with the incident and had been absconding.