(Lanka-e-News- 23.July.2015, 8.00PM) The present defense secretary and the dastardly group that is still active of ex defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse have distorted the facts regarding the recent white van criminal operation of major general Prasanna De Silva . When Mirihana police took into custody the van with three army personnel in civil attire carrying weapons on 20 th night , unlawful pressures were exerted on the police by the pro Rajapakse groups , and the legal action taken too had been in a manner that was favorable to the Rajapakses, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.
The army offiicers who were in the van when it was seized are : Atapattu who drove the vehicle - a soldier residing at Polonnaruwa; Herath , a soldier living in Bibile ; and Vasantha, a commando soldier residing at Omalpe. All of them admitted , they are bodyguards of Major general Prasanna De Silva.
At the time the Van was seized , there were a T81 weapon , Micro pistol, Browning pistol and bullets matching them , four official army uniforms and 2 bags of civilian clothes within the Van. Because of the aforementioned pressures that were exerted , the police could record only a Browning pistol .In fact what was produced by the police to court was only the Browning pistol and the bullets matching it. The police told court the pistol was Prasanna De Silva’s official weapon and that had been given to his security personnel.
When the police questioned Prasanna De Silva yesterday (22) , he admitted the pistol was his, and the Van is that of the army.
Meanwhile , yesterday the army media division trying to offer an explanation when addressing the media said, with the advent of the new Army commander , all miscreants in the army were punished irrespective of their ranks.
It is unfortunate the media failed to question who gave promotions and Diplomatic Envoy posts to those officers who unlawfully engaged in politics in official uniforms until 8 th January? Who appointed these wrongdoing officers as army commanders was also not questioned by the media.
After this white van was seized by the police it was the defense ministry (including the defense secretary) that has brought pressure to bear on the high ranking police officers. Even Gotabaya had turned jittery and panicked on hearing the news ; he too had communicated with his contacts in the defense ministry and all those cronies of his to suppress the episode.
Suspicions have heightened in regard to the present defense secretary Basnayake because major general Prasanna De Siilva the number one stooge of Gotabaya is now the co ordinating secretary to Basnayake.
Shockingly , according to reports , neither the weapons nor the Van that were seized are registered anywhere .Any vehicle of the forces or of a government department ought to be registered in a ledger , but this criminal operated van is not registered anywhere – not with the defense ministry , or with the forces or with the army..!
Vehicles that were seized from the LTTE were registered anew with the RMV , then why was this vehicle not registered ? In addition,why did this vehicle roam about on a fake registration number and for what purpose? Surely , not only Prasanna De Silva but even the defense secretary must hold themselves responsible and are answerable in this connection.
Based on information provided by unofficial sources to Lanka e news , there are three such unregistered white Vans in the possession of Gotabaya .Reportedly , the white Van now seized was used during the past for abductions and disappearances of people , and was associated with the ‘white van syndrome.’ In addition according to unofficial sources, Gotabaya is also in possession of unregistered weapons that can fill two armories. In the houses of the Rajapakses weapons are kept buried underground in places like garages, sources say.
The most perplexing issue however revolves around the pistol that has been acknowledged by the major general as his .In the forces , no officer can transfer a firearm given to him for official duties to another . It cannot even be transferred to another to be used for the officer’s own security . The law applies so stringently that even if he hands over the pistol to his security officer in case the former has need in an emergency to go into a latrine , that security officer cannot roam about with that pistol without the officer who gave him being by his side.Though the weapons meant for hiding may be put aside, the security officer cannot be sent out carrying this pistol even if that can be exposed. In the circumstances , Prasanna De Silva has committed a grave wrong and an egregious blunder under the law.The security officer must also answer how he kept in his possession a firearm that does not belong to him.
The legal action taken and procedures followed concerning these grave and serious criminal irregularities are also highly questionable. The following offences :
Having in custody arms unlawfully; travelling in an unregistered Van with a fake registration number ; obstructing police in the execution of duties by speeding off despite police orders to stop; among other offences committed are non bailable.
This group was to be produced before Gangodawila magistrate court , and the official magistrate there is Kanishka Wijeratne. Yet on that day he avoided the case, and they were produced before the acting magistrate Suneetha Nanayakkara who enlarged them on bail. She is the young lawyer wife of retired judge Chandradasa Nanayakkara.
These three individuals being close cronies of Rajapakses portends grave danger. Chandradasa is so close that Mahinda and he are eating and boozing pals , while Suneetha the cutie supplies the ‘bites’ and dances attendance on Mahinda . When that is the scenario , these culprits being granted bail is unsurprising. But , the vexatious issue is , what was the new president as the defense minister doing when all these were happening under his very nose. Surely he cannot say he hasn’t a nose or he was suffering from rigor mortis , when it is a universal fact that rigor mortis sets in only after death.
Sadly , it is now three days since his criminal episode took place, yet major general Prasanna De Silva and defense secretary who are directly answerable and responsible for this are still free and carefree.
The investigation has by now been entrusted to the CID of the police .
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by (2015-07-23 15:37:53)
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So glad to hear that the army headquarters is going to investigate and punish this officer irrespective of his rank. Feel sorry for the innocent guards who were forced involved in this.
-- by Ranmal Weerasinghe on 2015-07-29
