Thajudeen inquest reveals cover-ups:

Parliament storms over Thajudeen probe, SLFP in-fighting

Siripala-Welgama slanging match :

Police bigwigs under probe:

CCTV shows Thajudeen escape attempt:

The SLFP’s in-fighting reached a new height last week with the party’s top rung leaders lashing out at each other in public over what happened under the previous administration. A heated verbal battle in Parliament between Transport Minister and former Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva and UPFA Kalutara District MP Kumara Welgama was nothing but a demonstration of the hostile dynamics prevailing within the SLFP, now led by President Maithripala Sirisena.

It all began when Transport Minister de Silva criticized the conduct of his predecessor while talking about the EPF funds of the SLTB in Parliament on Wednesday. The Transport Minister charged that the SLFP had not paid EPF funds due to its employees when Welgama was the Transport Minister. When the Transport Minister made this statement, his predecessor, Welgama, was seen glaring at him from the opposition benches of the House.

Suddenly, the former Transport Minister stood up and interrupted the speech of his senior party colleague.

“Don’t talk like a baby,” Welgama responded angrily to the remark made by de Silva.

“You are also talking like a baby. You talk as if there were no shortcoming at the SLTB when you were the Minister,” de Silva lashed back at the Kalutara district Parliamentarian.

“Although you are the Transport Minister of the yahapaalana government, you are still relying on the buses I purchased for the SLTB. Thank me for doing that,” Welgama shot back at de Silva while other Parliamentarians of the SLFP looked on in consternation. They sensed that the heated argument between two senior SLFP parliamentarians reflected badly on the party. However, no MP intervened to stop the argument between the two seniors.

“You are Mr. Know-it-all. You think we are just buffoons,” Welgama kept lashing out at the Minister while defending his own ministerial record.

“You can pretend as if you know everything but don’t forget the fact that you failed to pay EPF money to the Transport Board workers,” de Silva again retorted.

However, UPFA MP Welgama, a staunch backer of the Rajapaksas, was not ready to give up.

“You said I overloaded the SLTB with my supporters. What about your tenure as the Health Minister? The people who worked at the Matugama Hospital were all the way from Badulla – your own electorate,” Welgama charged, to de Silva’s obvious embarrassment.

“I won’t tell what you did to the Transport Board,” a fuming Transport Minister sat down, abruptly ending the argument.

The verbal battle between de Silva and Welgama had another dimension. De Silva was the Leader of the Opposition after the Presidential election in January and he was known to be a supporter of President Sirisena. In the run up to the parliamentary election in August, de Silva switched allegiance and aligned himself with the group supporting the Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Although it was common knowledge that he had long nursed Prime Ministerial ambitions, de Silva once told an election rally a few days before the Parliamentary election that he, himself, would propose to President Sirisena the appointment of Rajapaksa as Prime Minister under a UPFA government.

After the election and defeat of the Rajapaksa faction, however, de Silva ditched the former President in no time and re-joined President Sirisena’s camp. He accepted a ministerial portfolio from the national unity government and projected himself as a close ally of the President.

When de Silva switched sides, Rajapaksa proposed Welgama’s name as a potential Opposition Leader from the UPFA. The Kalutara District MP was backed by nearly 50 MPs of the UPFA coalition.

However, Welgama could not become the Opposition Leader of the new Parliament as the Speaker decided to appoint TNA Leader R. Sampanthan to the position. It was in this backdrop that the verbal battle erupted between the two bigwigs of the SLFP. A similar incident took place outside Parliament last week when Power and Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya lodged a complaint with the CID over the EPF funds of the Ceylon Electricity Board, one of the main institutions coming under his ministry.

The complaint said that the funds had been invested in Treasury Bills in 2009 and that what had happened to the money remained a mystery.

Internal audit investigations conducted by the Ministry had revealed that the money had been invested in Treasury Bills through a private company and no approval had been obtained from the CEB for transactions involving EPF funds.

Interestingly, the Power and Energy Minister of the UPFA government in 2009 was John Seneviratne who presently functions as the Labour Minister. Seneviratne’s Deputy Minister at the time was Mahindananda Aluthgamage, now a vociferous MP of the newly formed UPFA dissident faction that likes to describe itself as ‘United Opposition’. Siyambalapitiya, Seneviratne and Aluthgamage are members of the SLFP and they hold senior positions in the party.

Buddhika–Harsha battle

The UNP too had to face a similar issue last week when backbencher UNP MP Buddhika Pathirana, asked a question from Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam on the proposal to issue cash vouchers instead of the free school uniforms.

After the Education Minister answered the question, Pathirana asked another question, putting the Education Minister in an embarrassing position. At this point, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva intervened to rescue the Education Minister.

“Aren’t you an MP of the ruling party? Don’t forget that you are criticizing government policy,” de Silva cautioned the junior parliamentarian.

“Who are you to yell at me? Are there two Education Ministers now? I asked the question from the Education Minister!” Pathirana responded thinking that would keep the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister away from the argument.

At this point, the Speaker intervened and allowed Pathirana to ask his question. After this incident, however, the MPs in the House spotted Pathirana walking towards the seat of Dr. Harsha de Silva. There was an exchange of words between the two politicians.

During recent inner circle meetings of the UNP over the last few days, Pathirana’s conduct was widely criticized by many MPs who said the Matara district Parliament was behaving as if he was from the Opposition. Some MPs believe that Pathirana had adopted a hostile approach towards some decisions of the government as he was overlooked in the ministerial and deputy ministerial appointments in September.

While the chamber of Parliament reverberated with various verbal battles, the investigation into the mysterious death of Rugby player Wasim Thajudeen reached an important turning point with the Colombo Additional Magistrate recent ruling that the death was not an accident.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Pieris, who was hearing Thajudeen’s case, has now been transferred to Matara with effect from January 1, 2016. Therefore, many believed that the Magistrate would deliver the verdict of his inquiry on December 10. On Thursday, the Magistrate’s Court premises was packed with journalists and lawyers who wanted to know the outcome of the magisterial inquiry.

Although the Magistrate observed that the rugby player’s death was not an accident, he said he needed to examine two more reports before delivering the verdict of his inquiry. Apart from the Magistrate’s observation, the hearing on Thursday had several significant developments concerning the case.

‘Attempted escape’

Filing a report in Court, Chief Inspector Ravindra Wimalasiri and Police Sergeant (13590) Ratnapriya of the CID, stated that some CCTV footage had been recovered from the Narahenpita and Kirulapone road junction on the day of the incident and it had been forwarded to the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) for an analytical report.

They said the video showed a car similar to that of Thajudeen’s being followed by a few vehicles. However, the police officers further submitted to Court that the number plates and the people who were inside the vehicle were not clearly visible and the UCSC was in the process of identifying the number plates of the vehicles.

The CCTV footage clearly showed Thajudeen’s vehicle trying to avoid the chasers. His efforts had been futile as the Rugby player’s escape routes were blocked by the vehicles of the chasers. His efforts to escape indicated that Thajudeen was aware of the grave threat he faced. That is why Thajudeen’s telephone records play a crucial role in identifying possible suspects in the case.

At this point, the Magistrate ordered the UCSC to submit its analytical report within two weeks on the findings of the CCTV footage. It is widely believed that the CCTV footage will uncover a substantial amount of evidence on the mysterious death of Thajudeen.

The Additional Magistrate stated that since two post mortem reports had been submitted before Court, more time was needed to deliver the verdict on the inquest into the death after analyzing those reports.

Meanwhile, the Additional Magistrate directed the UCSC to obtain the assistance of foreign experts if needed and further asked that Court be notified if additional time beyond the stipulated 14-days was needed.

Former Senior DIG blocked probe

Counsel Misbah Sathar, looking after the interests of the Thajudeen family, moved Court that an order be issued directing the CID to investigate certain higher ranking police officers, including the once-powerful former Senior DIG Anura Senanayaka, for allegedly obstructing the Thajudeen investigation.

Counsel told court that he was reliably informed that the father of the deceased had been summoned by former DIG Senanayaka who, in the presence of the Narahenpita Police OIC, had tried to persuade him that the death of his son was an ‘accident’ and he should ‘forget it’.

According to Counsel, the meeting between Thajudeen’s father and the senior police officer took place soon after the Police recovered the Rugby player’s wallet from the Kirulapona Police area, just days after his death.

Immediately after this unexpected finding, Thajudeen’s father was summoned to the office of Senanayake, then Senior DIG of the Western Province. Sources close to the Rugby player’s family said that the OICs of Narahenpita and Kirulapona Police stations were present at the Western Province Senior DIG’s office when the Rugby player’s father arrived.

Thajudeen’s father, according to Counsel, had been kept outside while the high ranking Police officers had discussed the investigation so far. After the meeting, the Senior DIG had told Thajudeen’s father that there was no point in proceeding with investigations as the Police had decided that it was an accident. The Counsel submitted that the initial investigations into Thajudeen’s death had tailed off under mysterious circumstances.

Taking into consideration the facts presented by Counsel, the Additional Magistrate ordered the CID to conduct an investigation into the seeming ‘cover-up’ and that statements to be recorded from the police officers involved in the incident.

According to authoritative Police sources, the CID will record statements from Senanayake and other senior officers involved in the investigation within the next two weeks. Senanayake, who was given three service extensions under the previous government, is known to be a close ally of top echelons of the Rajapaksa regime.

Meanwhile, CID informed Court that mobile server company Dialog Axiata was cooperating with the investigation in a more positive manner than before. This remark came in the wake of the Additional Magistrate’s order to Dialog Axiata to provide telephone records of Thajudeen during the period the incident took place.

The Police also received information that a very senior Police Office, clad in civilian clothes, arrived at the scene of the ‘accident’ only minutes after the Police recovered the Rugby player’s charred body. It was in the grapevine that the Police bigwig’s behaviour was highly suspicious in the immediate aftermath of the so called accident.

The CID told court that Dialog had provided information details pertaining to the incident during the past two weeks.

While commending the role and the conduct of the Dialog company regarding the investigation, Court directed the company to further cooperate with the on-going CID investigations.

Former JMO probed

Additional Magistrate Peiris also ordered the Chairman of Sri Lanka Medical Council and the Director General of Health to investigate different claims made by former Colombo JMO Prof. Ananda Samarasekara and his subordinates over the alleged ‘disappearance’ of several bones and other parts of Thajudeen’s body.

The Additional Magistrate made this order consequent to a submission by CID that the conduct of the former Colombo JMO and other officials was not satisfactory and that they had neglected their duties. The Additional Magistrate ordered the CID to investigate in order to ascertain the truth.

Samarasekera, in a report to the Additional Magistrate on Wednesday, informed Court that several bone parts of Wasim Thajudeen’s body had gone missing as his staff could not find them in the deep freezer or the mortuary coolers at the Colombo JMO office.

Samarasekera said he had instructed two minor staff members to store the body parts in a deep freezer. However, the two minor staff members had denied Prof. Samarasekara’s claim.

The Additional Magistrate further observed that the Court would specially pay its attention to the conduct of former JMO Prof. Samarasekara since he had taken two and a half years – an extraordinarily long period - to submit his final analytical report pertaining to the post mortem.

The Court was informed that the conduct of former Colombo JMO had been criticised by the panel of Judicial Medical Officers including present Colombo JMO, Dr. Ajith Tennakoon.

Tennakoon was the one who presented the JMO report on Thajudeen’s death to court last week. While explaining the findings of his team of experts, Tennakoon said that the rugby player’s death was not an accident and he had been tortured with a blunt weapon.

Meanwhile, some sections of the legal fraternity have raised concern that Additional Magistrate’s transfer as the District Judge of Matara will have an adverse impact on the magisterial inquiry of the case.

There are speculations that a new judge will need more time to examine reports and arrive at a conclusion with regard to the case.

In this context, President Maithripala Sirisena received multiple requests from various parties last week to mete out justice in the case by delaying the proposed transfer of Pieris by at least by six months. However, with the setting up of the Judicial Services Commission under the provisions of the 19th Amendment, the Executive has lost its clout in the matters concerning the judiciary and, therefore, the President is not in a position to take any direct steps to prevent judicial transfers.

‘PM will not allow anyone to block justice’

In the light of these developments, the recent meeting between the Prime Minister and former President Rajapaksa was misinterpreted by some sections of media saying it had some connection with the Thajudeen investigation.

Speaking to the Sunday Observer, an authoritative spokesman in the Prime Minister’s office said that meeting had nothing to with Thajudeen and it was never a ‘secret meeting’.

“It is true that the public was not aware of the agenda of the meeting. But there was no ‘secrecy’ attached to the meeting. In fact, the President was in the next room when the former President walked into the Prime Minister’s office in Parliament. It was the first meeting they had after the Parliamentary election in August. How can the Prime Minister prevent someone from meeting him in Parliament?” he asked.

The spokesman said the Prime Minster would not allow any party to stand in the way of this investigation using ‘political influence’.

“The Prime Minister’s position on this matter is very clear. He will make way for an independent and fair inquiry. No party will be able to manipulate or influence the investigations. The investigation is totally in the hands of the CID,” he stressed.

Parliament storm over Thajudeen

A day after the hearing of the case, Thajudeen’s case caused pandemonium in the country’s legislature. The matter was raised by UNP MP Mujibur Rahuman during the committee stage debate on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ vote. Rahuman spoke in Parliament soon after UPFA Hambanthota District Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa concluded his speech.

The Parliamentarian, in his fiery speech, said Thajudeen’s killing was a systematic murder.

Rahuman’s remark earned the wrath of several UPFA dissident group MPs. They said the UNP Parliamentarian had no right to talk about a matter that was placed before the judiciary.

Amidst this exchange of words, three UPFA MPs namely Johnston Fernando, Indika Anuruddha and Sanath Nishantha rushed to the seat of Rahuman and attempted to assault him.

To protect their colleague from the Parliamentarians of the Opposition, several UNP MPs including Arshu Marasinghe, Heshan Wijewickrama, Rohini Kaviratne and Sujith Perera surrounded the Colombo District parliamentarian.

The UPFA MPs demanded Rahuman to retract his remarks on Thajudeen and some members of Parliament. The UNP MP refused to comply with the demand. This pandemonium compelled Edward Gunasekera, the MP who was chairing the session, to adjourn Parliament for 10 minutes.

After a 10 minute break, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya resumed sittings at 4.20 p.m.

“I resume sittings of Parliament and then go to the committee stage again,” Speaker Jayasuriya said.

“The dignity of Parliament has to be protected. This is not a Provincial Council,” he said.

The Speaker’s remark was followed by a speech made by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who said that what happened in Parliament on that day (Friday) was an unprecedented experience!

“Members like S. B. Dissanayake and myself have been in Parliament since 1989. There were brawls between members on various occasions since then. But this was the first time that I witnessed a member speaking in Parliament coming under attack. The shadow of the terror unleashed by the Rajapaksas still haunts us,” Samaraweera said.

Countering Samaraweera’s claims, Parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena argued that Rahuman, while on his feet, spoke of matters currently before court.

“The Chair gave an order not to speak of matters sub judice. But he continued to speak on the same matter leading to the brawl. Rahuman’s behaviour is unbecoming,” he said.

However, Leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella defended Rahuman’s conduct saying the MP did not refer to any name while speaking of Thajudeen’s matter.

“If they say the cap fits them, what can we do about it?” Kiriella asked sending ripples of laughter across the ruling coalition benches.

“I will look into the matter,” Speaker Jayasuriya assured both parties in a desperate bid to settle the argument.

The Speaker also declared that he could not work according to the whims and fancies of opposition MP Gunawardena.

During the controversy, a group of members including Dinesh Gunawardena, Bandula Gunawardena, Dullas Alahapperuma, Johnston Fernando, Gamini Lokuge, Namal Rajapaksa, Vidura Wickramanayaka, Keheliya Rambukwella, Niroshan Premaratne and Sanath Nishantha were seen standing in the chamber.

After a few minutes, they again interrupted the proceedings of the House by shouting, and making various demands. But their microphones were switched off. The Speaker was heard responding to the members.

“I will look into the tape and give you the decision,” the Speaker said over and over again. “We have to continue the debate. Public money cannot be wasted. The public is watching us. I will see the tape and give a decision. Don’t disturb Parliament. You may sit, then I will allow a point of order. All are standing, so how could I allow a point of order. The debate may continue. Go ahead,” the Speaker said giving the green light to the UNP MP.

“I was speaking of systematic murders. I said the Thajudeen murder was a systematic murder. The Eknaligoda murder was a systematic murder too.

When I said it, Johnston Fernando, Sanath Nishantha and Indika Anuruddha came to assault me physically. They threatened to assault me outside the House. Don’t I have a right to speak in this assembly?” he asked.

As the UNP MP continued with his speech, opposition members who remained standing were heard demanding a point of order. “Sit down before raising a point of order,” Speaker Jayasuriya said.

Post-debate ‘frolicking’

When Rahuman concluded his speech, a section of the members of the opposition led by Dinesh Gunawardena, Keheliya Rambukwella, Bandula Gunawardena, and Johnston Fernando came to the Well and marched towards the podium of the Speaker. They argued that Rahuman’s conduct was unacceptable and they needed to raise a point of order. It was pandemonium again.

At this stage the Sergeant-at-Arms Anil Parakrama Samarasekera, Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Narendra Fernando and Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms Kushan Jayaratne were seen coming before the Bench.

“All were standing and a point of order could not be allowed,” Speaker Jayasuriya said. “If you sit, all would be given an equal opportunity. I will see the tape and give a decision. If you don’t allow the continuation of the proceedings, I will suspend the debate.”

The sittings was suspended for the second time at 4.40 p.m. The quorum bells were rung at 6.05 p.m. Although the session was suspended, the argument between the government and the opposition did not cease. Some MPs such as Ajith P. Perera, Thalatha Athukorala, and Keheliya Rambukwella were seen attempting to calm down the situation.

After a few minutes, however, the situation cooled down and the MPs were seen making fun of each other over what said during the heated argument.

MP Namal Rajapaksa was seen speaking with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Minister Thalatha Athukorala and State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe were seen attempting to drag opposition member Keheliya Rambukwella to the government side in a friendly gesture while the latter managed to get rid of their grip.