Angela Seneviratne not accountable, say police

It was a busy day at the Parcel Post Section at the Central Mail Exchange at D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo 10 when people were calling over to clear parcels addressed to them. Among them were two young British nationals in their twenties nervously awaiting their turn to collect their parcels. However, the Custom officials who spotted them were a bit suspicious of their demeanour.

The foreigners had come there to collect three parcels addressed to a popular cinema and television actress, Angela Seneviratne, who lived at Hudson Road Kollupitiya, Colombo 3, almost 10 years ago. The foreigners produced a letter purported to have been written by the recipient Angela Seneviratne authorising them to collect the parcels on her behalf along with the invoice sent to the address by the Postal Department.

Suspicion

The Postal and Customs officials found that the three parcels had been mailed to that address at Kollupitiya from New Delhi, India. However, the Customs officials were somewhat suspicious of the contents of the parcels and decided to break open them as a formality.

The parcels were opened in the presence of the two British nationals and found to contain some magazines. On further examination they found cavities in the magazines packed with some powdered substance similar to that of hashish, a potent drug used by addicts in Western countries. Other paraphernalia found inside the magazines were costume jewellery probably to deceive Customs officials, police said.

With years of experience under their belt senior Customs officers are familiar with drugs such as heroin, Hashish and Cannabis Sativa that are periodically smuggled into the country by couriers. Police say that most drugs are smuggled in by couriers who arrive at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and small quantities arrive by post.

There was pandemonium at the Central Mail Exchange following the discovery of Hashish inside magazines. The hashish weighed 336 grams and 70 milligrams. The story soon spread like wildfire and it was on everybody's lips at the Central Mail Exchange. Following the news, employees at the Central Mail Exchange flocked to the Parcel Post office to get a glimpse of the two suspects linked to the racket through curiosity.

However, tension boiled over when the two suspects attempted to flee the Central Mail Exchange. One suspect grabbed the magazines and clung on to them while the other bolted.However, alert Customs and Postal employees grappled with the man and prevented his escape. Following the detection of 366 grams and 70 milligrams of hashish, the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) was summoned to investigate the case. PNB sources said they have detailed a special team to apprehend the Britisher who bolted from the Central Mail Exchange. However the Narcotics Bureau sleuths kept a lookout for the suspects ata the BIA round the clock and on Wednesday night the wanted suspect J.W. Fegan was spotted at the exit point of the airport. The suspect was trying to flee to Thailand. The suspect was hiding in a hotel down south, police said. Undoubtedly his arrest would shed light on drug smuggling operations by foreign nationals, police said.

According to a senior police officer, Angela Seneviratne was not involved in the hashish case although her name was dragged in unnecessarily by wide media coverage of the incident because of her fame. “She had nothing to with the incident as she had left the Hudson Road residence at Kollupitiya almost 10 years ago and cannot be held accountable. We can even issue a clearance certificate that she was totally innocent,” a senior police officer said.

It came to light that the two British nationals after moving into the Hudson Road residence at Kollupitiya a fortnight ago learnt that Angela Seneviratne he lived in the same premises long ago but continued to receive mail from her ardent fans. The two men thereafter proceeded to New Delhi, India where they purchased hashish from a drug dealer. The quantity of hashish was later mailed by the drug dealer in three parcels addressed to Angela Seneviratne at Hudson Road Kollupitiya.

The two Britishers later returned to Sri Lanka having spent some time in India in early April. Two weeks later they received a notice from the Central Mail Exchange Colombo, to call over there to clear a parcel from India.

A senior police officer said that the Britisher apprehended by the Police Narcotics Bureau had forged the signature of Angela Seneviratne to clear the parcels arrived from India. “We have recorded the statements of Angela Seneviratne with regard to the incident and obtained her specimen signature.

The signature found on the letter brought by the suspect does not match the signature of Angela Seneviratne. It was quite evident the suspect had forged her signature without her knowledge. Therefore, the need does not arise to forward it to the Examiner of Questioned Documents (EQD) for a report.”

He also said the arrested British national's mother was a Sri Lankan who came from a wealthy background. She lived in Sri Lanka some time ago before she went to live in the United Kingdom.

In a statement to a newspaper recently Angela Seneviratne said her name and reputation was tarnished as a result of being falsely implicated in the hashish detection scandal by the media although she had nothing to do with it. She even lost her job at a foreign embassy as a result of being falsely linked by the media.

“Why do they hound innocent people who are not linked to the incident.” she said.

Sleuths from the Police Narcotics Bureau are still on the trail of the British National who escaped from the Central Mail Exchange at D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo 10 two weeks ago.

The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) produced the arrested British national in courts last week and a detention order was obtained until April 28 to further investigate him regarding the hashish incident.

The PNB will also take steps to forward the quantity of hashish found inside the parcels to the Government Analyst for a report. The Police Media Spokesman SP, Ajith Rohana said that police have alerted the Bandaranike International Airport (BIA) and other police stations in the country to keep a lookout for the suspect who will attempt to flee the country. “The hashish which they attempted to smuggle into the country was probably for their use we believe, ” he said.