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Counsel for sacristan alleges grenade probe ‘flawed’

26 Jan 2022

 
  • Counsel to submit CCTV footage; requests court to order IGP to transfer probe out of CCD
  • Court orders CCD to complete church grenade probe ASAP; seeks progress report on detained suspects on 2 Feb.
  • Attorney for suspect doc queries how media privy to ‘confidential’ info; requests court to order CCD to conduct probe impartially
  BY Buddhika Samaraweera The manner in which the investigation into the incident of a hand grenade being found in the All Saints’ Church in Borella is flawed, charged President’s Counsel (PC) Rienzie Arsekularatne, appearing on behalf of three suspects – including Francis Munindran, the sacristan of the said church – in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (24).  He had further told the court that this flawed investigation had led to three innocent people being arrested and detained by the Police without properly investigating what had happened, and that the relevant closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage would be submitted to the court to uncover the true information related to the incident.  Arsekularatne further noted that since the church was preparing to hold a special service on 14 January to mark the 1,000th day since the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019, people would have been afraid to attend the said service on that day if the hand grenade had somehow exploded inside the church. Accordingly, there is a question as to whether the hand grenade was placed with the intention of disrupting the service on 14 January, claimed Arsekularatne. Thus, he said, they could not trust the investigations being carried out by the CCD into the incident and therefore, requested the court to direct Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne to withdraw the investigation from the CCD and to transfer it to another division. Subsequently, Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya yesterday (25) ordered the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) to complete the investigation into the incident of a hand grenade being found in the All Saints’ Church in Borella and to report to the court on its progress. The Additional Magistrate also ordered the CCD to present the progress of the investigations into the suspects who are being held on detention orders (DOs) in connection with the incident on 2 February. Meanwhile, claiming that there are a lot of media reports regarding the investigations into the incident which have not been reported to the court, Attorney-at-Law Chaminda Athukorala who appeared for Dr. Shirley Herath, the latter who is currently in custody over the said incident, told the court that it is highly questionable as to how the confidential information revealed during the investigation has and is reaching the media. He further requested the court to issue an order to the CCD to conduct the relevant investigations impartially. At this point, the Additional Magistrate told the court that she too had a problem with how the confidential information related to these investigations was published in the media. Neville Abeyratne PC, who appeared in court on behalf of Colombo Archbishop His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the All Saints’ Church in Borella, told the court that this was a very serious incident and that there was a problem with the transparency of the police investigations into the matter. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Neville de Silva of the CCD appeared in court on behalf of the complainant. He said that he was deeply saddened by the statements made by the lawyers appearing for the suspects. He further said that six suspects were being held in police custody on DOs under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) and that the other suspect had been remanded. Claiming that what was published in the media was not the police investigation, but only the information obtained from here and there, ASP de Silva said that he could not make any statement regarding such reports. He also said that the investigations into the suspects who are detained are not yet over. He added that the Police were not trying to detain any suspects unnecessarily and that the suspects would be produced in court as soon as the investigations were completed. The Additional Magistrate told the court that the Police’s reports to the court from time to time reflect that an investigation was underway. Noting that the investigations were being carried out under the PTA, she said that the freedom of individuals should also be protected in addition to national security.  In view of all these facts, the Additional Magistrate directed the CCD to complete the investigations and submit the reports regarding the suspects in custody on 2 February.  A hand grenade was found in the premises of the All Saints’ Church on Ananda Rajakaruna Mawatha opposite the Welikada Prison in Borella at around 4.40 p.m. on 11 January. The hand grenade was discovered following a tip-off received by the Police and it was later defused by the Police Special Task Force. However, Archbishop Ranjith on 13 January accused the Police of not conducting a “truthful” investigation regarding the discovery of a hand grenade at the All Saints’ Church in Borella and said that IGP Wickramaratne should “go home” if he cannot ensure that a transparent investigation is conducted into the matter. Both Wickramaratne and Defence Ministry Secretary Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne have defended the police investigation into the same.


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