• CC member requests Speaker to probe veracity of media claims of conspiracy to thwart drug trafficker’s arrest 

If someone claims that Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne would apprehend a particular drug trafficker within three weeks and that it was the Constitutional Council (CC) that prevented him from doing so by not approving the third service extension granted to him, they should rethink as to why he (Wickramaratne) failed to achieve it during the past four years during which period he was also the permanent IGP, said the Ruling Party’s representative in the CC, Parliamentarian and attorney Sagara Kariyawasam. 

Wickramaratne, whose first and second three-month service extensions granted by President and Defence Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe expired on 26 June and 9 October, respectively, was granted another three-week service extension by the President on 13 October, but it was not approved by the CC.

With the CC’s decision not to approve it, certain national newspapers, quoting a senior minister, had reported that a probe would be launched to determine if the CC’s decision was aimed at protecting any drug trafficker. The reports also mentioned that there was suspicion as to whether the non-approval of the said service extension was the result of a conspiracy, as the President, who was on a foreign visit, was expected to return to the country.

Commenting to The Daily Morning on the allegation, Kariyawasam said that the relevant decision had been taken unanimously by the CC, and that subsequent propaganda against the CC must be looked into. He also said that he had requested Speaker of the Parliament and CC Chairman Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana to look into the veracity of certain media reports regarding the matter and to take appropriate action against those who propagate various misinformation. 

“Following our refusal to approve the third service extension granted to Wickramaratne, certain media organisations had reported that the IGP was going to bust a particular drug dealer and that we didn’t approve the said service extension in order to prevent it from being done. Is it something that anyone can believe? He has been the IGP since 2019. If he could not bust this particular drug dealer for all these years, would he do it within three weeks?” 

Wickramaratne, who was appointed as the Acting IGP in April 2019, was confirmed in the position on 25 November 2020. He was scheduled to retire in March 2023 and was granted a three-month service extension by the President, which ended on 26 June. The Police Department functioned without the presence of an IGP for about two weeks until Wickramaratne was again granted the second three-month service extension by the President on 9 July, which came to an end on 9 October. He was then granted the third service extension for another three weeks on 13 October, a move which has seen opposition from several parties.