Gunaratnam deported to Australia:

Fiasco comes to a close

By Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

An uproar was created last week when the print and electronic media highlighted the disappearance of Premakumara Gunaratnam and Dimuthu Attygala, who were political activists while they were in the midst of forming a new political party named the Front Line Socialist Party (FSP). It was alleged that Premakumara Gunaratnam was abducted by an armed gang who broke into his home at Kiribathgoda in the wee hours of Saturday (7) while Dimuthu Attygala was abducted while she was on her way home at Godagama.

However the man and woman re-appeared last Tuesday ending the abduction drama. When Premakumara Gunaratnam’s disappearance became known, it was the Australian Embassy that brought it to the notice of the Sri Lanka Government as they were concerned about the Australian citizen who had gone missing. According to Police Media Spokesman, SP Ajith Rohana, Premakumara re-appeared again at the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) office at Dematagoda where he introduced himself as Premakumara Gunaratnam alias Noel Mudalige whom the police was looking for. He made a statement to police regarding his sudden disappearance.

The Police having recorded his statement handed him over to the Australian Embassy officials and provided him with an escort to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last Tuesday where he was deported for overstaying his visa. He was put on a flight bound for Malaysia, police said.

In fact Premakumara alias Noel Mudalige and Dimuthu Attygala belonged to the breakaway group of the JVP that formed the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP). Premakumara Gunaratnam is a 42-year-old Sri Lankan who migrated to Australia some time ago and is said to be an Australian citizen. Asked whether Premakumara had tried to deceive by changing his name, Police Media spokesman said he had changed his names four times consequently after his marriage.

He was known as Premakumara Gunaratnam alias Noel Mudalige and also as Daskoon Wanniarchchi. He was also known as Dayalal Ratnayake. He arrived in the country on an Australian Passport bearing the name as Noel Mudalige on September 4, 2011 and overstayed his visa.

Noel Mudalige told the Colombo Crime Division police officers that he was abducted by a group of people while he was at his home at Kiribathgoda on the night of April 7, night and took him to an unknown location where he was questioned regarding his party activities. He said the abductors dropped him off at Dematagoda on Monday night after keeping him in solitary confinement. “Five police teams were on the lookout for a man named Premakumara Gunaratnam the leader of the Frontline Socialist Party following his disappearance,” the Media Spokesman said. Police further said that he had contracted marriage while in Australia under the name of Daskoon Wanniarchchi.

The Controller of Immigration and Emigration, W.A. Chulananda Perera when contacted by the Sunday Observer said that they had no idea whatsoever of a person named Premakumara Gunaratnam arriving in the country. However a person named Noel Mudalige who arrived had left the country last Tuesday around 7.56 a.m. on a UL Flight 314 bound to Malaysia.

The Controller further said that Premakumara Gunaratnam alias Noel Mudalige did not possess dual citizenship as reported in most newspapers.

The drama unfolded last week when his political party supporters alleged that Gunaratnam and Dimuthu Attygala were abducted by men clad in uniforms that resembled service personnel. They said around twenty five men clad in uniforms stormed Gunaratnam’s home at Kiribathgoda and abducted him after ordering neighbours in the vicinity to shut doors and windows and to switch off the lights in their homes. However the Military Spokesman denied any involvement of the army in the abduction drama. According to news reports Gunaratnam’s wife, Champa Somaratna who lives in Australia had said that her husband had no links with the LTTE diaspora although he was born a Tamil. However, the big question that revolves in the minds of the people and the police is whether the abduction was a staged drama to gain mileage for the new Front Socialist Party or whether to bring disrepute to the Government concerned at a time when international attention was focused on Sri Lanka. Whatever it may be the incident generated much heat in the country.

The house in which Gunaratnam stayed at Gemunu Mawatha in Makola, Kiribathgoda was searched by police following his abduction but they did not find any incriminating evidence to suggest the abductors had forcibly entered the home.

Even his immediate neighbours told police that they were not aware that an armed gang had stormed into his home and abducted Gunaratnam. Meanwhile, at a press conference held at the Frontline Socialist Party office at Madiwela on April 10, Dimuthu Attygala made her presence and related her ordeal.

She told the media that she was abducted and bundled into a white coloured van by a group of persons while she was on her way home at Godagama. The abduction took place on April 6, 2012. She said she was blindfolded thereafter by her captives who took her to a secret location where she was held up for more than two days. The men questioned her regarding Frontline Socialist Party activities and members who belonged to the party. She said she was handcuffed and locked up in a room until the following day. On the following day she was moved into another location where she was further grilled.

The abductors told her that they were satisfied with her explanation that the Front Line Socialist Party did not receive any funding from the Tamil diaspora. On the following day (7) while she was being taken in a van she had seen Premakumara Gunaratnam in the same vehicle. The abductors told her that Premakumara would be sent back to Australia as he had a problem with his passport and she will be released thereafter. On the following day Dimuthu Attygala was dropped at a lonely road at Talapathpitiya. Someone then handed her some currency notes for her to get back home.