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| Sunday, 4 September 2005 |
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Cardboard tigers in police net Crime Sunday by Jayampathy Jayasinghe It all began when a wealthy businessman from Pettah walked into the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) Office at Dematagoda last week to meet its Director, Senior Supdt. of Police Sarath Lugoda. The man was in a state of shock and was trembling with fear. He had something urgent to tell Supdt. Lugoda as he feared death. Someone was going to kill him if he does not comply with the request. When Supdt. Lugoda began to question him patiently the man collected his thoughts and whispered to him that the LTTE had sent him a letter demanding cash Rs. 1 million from him. The latter mentioned that the money had to be deposited in a bank account to be utilised for rehabilitation of tsunami victims in the LTTE controlled areas. The man was seated at the CCD Office when Supdt. Lugoda summoned him to his office. He was a bit shaken after he received a letter from a LTTE cadre demanding Rs. 1 million. He told Lugoda, the man who identified himself as a LTTE cadre wanted to know whether he received the letter. He had also warned the businessman that his son would be abducted and killed if he failed to comply with the request. Fearing that his son would be abducted and tortured to death, he sent the boy away to Abu-Dhabi. Supdt. Lugoda having scrutinised the letter carefully which the businessman gave him realised that it was a fake. The letter was a type set document in Tamil language with the Tiger emblem on it. It was pretty obvious to other police officers that the letter was a fake. They realised that the tiger emblem had been down loaded from a Tamil web site and printed on letter heads. The police chief advised the businessman to engage in a prolonged telephone conversation with the extortionist next time and to bargain with the stipulated amount mentioned in the letter. The CCD meanwhile, had learnt several businessmen in Pettah area had received such letters demanding staggering sums of money. The money were to be utilised by the LTTE to assist tsunami victims in the LTTE-controlled areas. In fact, several businessmen fearing reprisals by the LTTE for non compliance had already given away huge sums of money. Many had deposited large sums in various bank accounts and were complacent about it. They did not even talk about it thereafter. The extortionists did not want themselves to be identified. Explicit instructions were given to the businessman over the phone to deposit money at various bank accounts mostly in remote areas. So the CCD launched an investigation to apprehend the bunch of elusive extortionists who were able to evade the police for some time. By now the Police were convinced that the LTTE did not have a hidden hand in the operation. But they needed proof to exculpate the LTTE. It was not just a routine, mundane task but a serious task. Ramifications were far more greater as the LTTE had been dragged into the extortionist racket. Several businessmen in Colombo have been threatened with death threats. The CCD decided to leave no stone unturned. So they wanted the matter thoroughly investigated and culprits brought to book. Several Police teams fanned across the city during the past few weeks gathering intelligence and meeting their network of informants. But nothing proved fertile. Credible information was not forthcoming. However, the CCD officials were in for a windfall when they were able to trace the owner of a mobile phone. A team of CCD officers arrested the master mind of the extortionist racket in Colombo. The CCD Officers were surprised to learn that the key suspect was a Reserve Police Constable who had served in Ampara area. The suspect had been under interdiction while serving at Ampara. Six more suspects including three Tamils, two Sinhalese and a Burgher suspect were later rounded up thus ending the biggest hoax to hit the city in recent times. |
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