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•  Following confession by underworld thug

CID secures court order to seek evidence

By Frederica Jansz

Following the sensational confession made by an underworld figure implicating Chairman, Sri Lanka Telecom and President, Sri Lanka Cricket, Thilanga Suma- thipala, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) last week secured a court order to gather further evidence that will corroborate the confession.

The court order will allow sleuths to take underworld figure Bada Mahinda out of the Colombo remand prison to identify a house at Dehiwela he says was used as a hideout for the underworld gang after the killing of Baddegana Sanjeewa.

According to Bada Mahinda's confession to the Gangodawila Magistrate, Pradeep Hettiaraachchi, this house he claims, maybe owned by a Sumathipala.

Meanwhile as the saga unfolded following this confession, The Sunday Leader learnt that businessmen from Pettah and Kandy are being summoned by underworld kingpin Dhammika Amarasinghe to the magazine prison where the pint sized thug is demanding "favours."

Using a mobile telephone in prison, the businessmen are told to supply 'favours' to jailors as well as a regular flow of cellular phone cards so Dhammika can maintain contact with the outside world.

According to some of these businessmen, Dhammika requires cellular phone cards worth a minimum of Rs. 4000 a day to make his phone calls.

Local businessmen called Mervyn, Herby, Hemapala and Nizar are some of those who have been summoned to the prison by Dhammika and had visited him without signing in.

Police are now probing how these businessmen walk directly into the office of the Prisons Commissioner General and are taken to Dhammika's cell without signing their names as procedure requires.

One of the businessman speaking in confidence said, "When Dhammika calls us we have to go as he is a member of the underworld."

A continuing police investigation has also found that an attempt by Commissioner General, Prisons, Rumy Marzook to transfer Dhammika to the Mahara prison was stopped by Thilanga Sumathipala. The latter allegedly telephoned Marzook and ordered him to let Dhammika remain at the Colombo magazine prison.

All attempts by The Sunday Leader to contact Marzook failed Friday night.

Sumathipala meanwhile was busy last week. He frantically continued behind the scenes manoeuvering following the spine chilling confession made by Bada Mahinda.

The confession by Bada Mahinda has implicated Sumathipala in the assassination attempt on Editor-in-Chief, The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge and the murder of former officer of the Presidential Security Division (PSD), Baddegana Sanjeewa.

Last Wednesday, an after dusk meeting was held at Minister S.B. Dissanayake's house.  Sumathipala and Prof. G.L. Peiris were present. The purpose of the meeting was to formulate a strategy for Prof. Peiris to intervene and speak to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to stop the CID investigation.

That same night Sumathipala also met separately with Lands Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne.

Minister S.B. Dissanayake, Sumathipala, and Prof. G.L. Peiris had reportedly put their heads together to decide the best possible course of action that will scuttle the ongoing investigation by the CID. Attempts to get a confirmation of this discussion from Prof. Peiris failed and we were told he could not be contacted until Monday as he was in Hambantota.

Sumathipala has also lobbied newspaper publishers and editors not to carry this story. On Friday, September 19 - the day Bada Mahinda made his confession - Sumathipala was a guest at a dinner hosted by the Chairman, Newspaper Society as part of the promotional campaign to set up the Press Complaints Commission.

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