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Plot to frame PM with Wambotta

By Frederica Jansz 

In a dramatic twist to the case involving that of an underworld gangster called Wambotta, a statement made to police...

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> Tents of despair

Plot to frame PM with Wambotta

Mahinda Amaraweera and Sripathy Sooriyarachchi

Wambotta's affidavit and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse

By Frederica Jansz 

In a dramatic twist to the case involving that of an underworld gangster called Wambotta, a statement made to police by the thug implicates Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as having harboured him at a time when he was wanted by the law.

But Wambotta has since making this statement to police now signed an affidavit claiming he did not name any politicians, least of all the Prime Minister when he was interrogated and a statement recorded from him by the Crimes Division of the Peliyagoda Police. A claim corroborated by his interrogators too.

Wambotta in a sworn affidavit claims that he did not re-read the statement he signed in the presence of police officers but is certain he never named a single politician. He categorically denies having mentioned even once the name of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

Denial

He asserts if the Prime Minister's name as well as that of other politicians is now in the statement he made to police then it has been inserted after he signed his statement. "If there are any names of politicians in my statement made to police I totally deny that I mentioned those names," he says in his affidavit.

But the police statement clearly indicates that Wambotta has not just named the Premier as being a contact, but describes explicitly how he (Wambotta) helped the PM during his election campaign as well as stayed at Rajapakse's home after having committed a murder and was a fugitive on the run.

Attorney-at-Law appearing for Wambotta, N. C. G. Punchihewa has now made a formal complaint to the SSP for Tangalle, M. K. Sugathadasa, that the Prime Minister has been falsely implicated by police officers attached to the Peliyagoda Police Crimes Division. Peliyagoda Police comes under the Gampaha District which is the fiefdom of the Bandaranaikes.

However, despite the controversy Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandra Fernando said he knew nothing of the dispute. But the IGP strongly defended his men asserting that no one within the police force would have inserted the name of the Prime Minister or any other politician into a statement made by a suspect. "That is a completely false claim - I have not seen his statement yet. However, I can with certainty maintain that no one within the police force would have forced Wambotta to name the Prime Minister in his statement or inserted the PM's name into his statement."

But even the IGP is at a loss for words to explain how then given that both the suspect and police officers are now maintaining that the suspect never named the Premier, Rajapakse's name clearly appears in the suspect's statement.

A police statement was recorded from Wambotta at the Crimes Division Western Province (North) in Peliyagoda on January 6, 2005 at 10.30 a.m. following his arrest by Peliyagoda Police.

After being detained he was subjected to intense interrogation after which ASP Priyantha Jayakody had instructed WPC 4344 Hemamali to type out the suspect's statement.

According to ASP Jayakody the reason why the statement was recorded was because of the incidents of murder, robbery and extortion that had taken place in the southern region in the recent past for which Wambotta is a prime suspect and wanted man.

ASP Priyantha Jayakody working out of the Crimes Division Western Province (North) Peliyagoda, when questioned by The Sunday Leader said he did not think Wambotta had in his statement referred to having any direct connections with the Prime Minister. Nor, could Jayakody recall if Wambotta had mentioned the Prime Minister's name even once, when he was interrogated by police officers attached to the Peliyagoda Crimes Division.

But a copy of Wambotta's statement made before ASP Jayakody and other police officers which is in the possession of The Sunday Leader explicitly names the Prime Minister at least four times, detailing instances of a relationship the gangster had allegedly shared with the Premier.

Bringing disrepute

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara, Minister John Seneviratne, Sajith Premadasa, Chamal Rajapakse, Jagath Pushpakumara, Deputy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, and Deputy Minister Sripathy Sooriyarachchi are also among those named in the statement together with senior police officers including the DIG for Galle  and a P. S. D. officer.

In his affidavit, also in our possession, Wambotta while categorically denying having mentio-

ned the name of the Prime Minister or any other politician in his statement states his statement was made upon being questioned intensively by ASP Priyantha Jayakody.

Wambotta's affidavit and Jayakody's corroboration too that the underworld thug indeed never named the Prime Minister has given rise to speculation that a plot may well be in the making at a high level of the state to disgrace and bring disrepute to the Prime Minister as well as stunt his political growth in the close run-up to a presidential election.

It also comes at a time moves are afoot to abolish the executive presidency and deprive Rajapakse of having a go at the top slot.

If both the underworld thug and his interrogators are maintaining that he never named the Premier when he made his statement this raises a serious question as to how then the police statement which we hold a copy of clearly carries the name of the Premier including a contact phone number for him.

Phone book

ASP Jayakody told The Sunday Leader he wasn't physically present when Wambotta was interrogated and his statement recorded. But Wambotta in his affidavit insists that he was questioned at great length by ASP Jayakody in person when making his statement to police.

The police statement further records that ASP Priyantha Jayakody gave instructions to WPC Hemamali to type the final version of Wambotta's statement after the suspect had been interrogated.

Kithulmulla Gamage Ajith Wasantha Kumara alias Wambotta, (31) hails from Embilipitiya. He was detained by police on charges of murder, robbery, abductions and extortions in the south.

A book allegedly belonging to Wambotta with a list of telephone numbers which police now claim to have according to Wambotta's statement had the telephone number of Temple Trees written down as - 0112437675. Interestingly though, this number is not a telephone number for Temple Trees but for Visumpaya. It could be argued that Mahinda Rajapakse did reside at Visumpaya before he moved to Temple Trees.

But then the question that arises is if indeed Wambotta shared a close relationship with the Premier to the extent of staying in his house would he not have had the mobile phone number of the PM like he apparently had for Sripathy Sooriyarachchi?

Wambotta's statement states, "I have been a supporter of Mahinda Rajapakse since long ago. I got to know him through the late MP Chandi Malli. I took the number down to call if I needed to."

He also says that after having committed a murder in Sooriyawewa, "I hid out at Southern Provincial Councillor, Chandi's house. I helped him and also Mahinda Rajapakse who I met through him, on their election work. While I was at Minister Chandi's I met Army Jine who was also with him. But because Pallaththara Jagath kept coming to Minister Chandi's I moved from there to Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse's."

Wambotta's phone book according to his statement carries the phone numbers of Sajith Premadasa, Namal Rajapakse, HQI for Embilipitiya, Heenthenna, DIG Galle, D. W. Prathapasinghe, Mahinda Amaraweera, Police Officer SI Amal, W. J. M. Lokubandara, John Seneviratne, Priyantha Jayakody and Ven. Sobitha Thero, including the HQI for Colpetty Police whom Wambotta states, "because he is from Tangalle I know him. I have spoken to him. I wrote the number down in case I needed to contact him."

The police statement further details in relation to Deputy Sports Minister Sripathy Sooriyarachchi, the gangster claiming "had told people that he would like to come and see me."

The telephone number for Sripathy Sooriyarachchi in Wambotta's possession is 0777771414. When we called the Deputy Minister on this same number he answered his phone but denied he had ever made any attempt to meet or speak with Wambotta.

"I don't know any Wambotta or Bandakka. These people can have conversations. That does not mean there is any truth to these statements. I totally deny that I told anyone or made any attempt to meet this man or speak with him," Sooriyarachchi said.

Vegetable vendor

Wambotta was born in Embilipitiya.  His father was a vegetable vendor. He says that when he did not go to school the teacher would ask the other children in the class why he was absent and a girl named Ajantha once replied that "Wambotta" was selling vegetables at the pola. From that day, he says everyone called him Wambotta.

In 1993, he joined the army, enlisting as a member of the 3rd Sinha Regiment. He says he trained for two and a half months at an army camp in Nuwara Eliya where he was taught to use a weapon. He then ran away and returned to the vegetable selling business. In 1994, he married Sriyani Jayamanne.

After marriage he says he began to bring mung beans from Sooriyawewa in lorries, which he sold in Colombo. Hidden among the mung beans he claims to have smuggled marijuana which he handed over to a woman near Manning Market at Wellawatte.

He says while he earned a lot of money from those sales he finally got caught in Hambantota, for which a case is still being heard and there was a warrant issued for his arrest.

He however came out on bail and continued his mung bean business from which monies he bought a van which he put out on hire to operate near the Galadari Hotel. After a while he says he bought a new sports car. He took this car to the village where he proudly drove it around. But, he says in his statement that he was then summoned by Arthur Rathnaweera who lived in Sooriyawewa and told that nobody could be allowed to drive a better car than what the Rathnaweeras owned and he was ordered to sell it.

Swore revenge

Wambotta claims he did not do so after which he was again summoned to the Rathnaweera house. When he went there he says "two big black boys took me to a dark room and tied my hands. Arthur Rathnaweera put a 9mm pistol to my head and said, no one has tried to go above us. You didn't do as we asked. If you don't sell the car we will shoot you like a dog and kill you." Then Wambotta claims Arthur Rathnaweera took a steel lid nearby heated it on a gas cooker and burnt his left leg with it.

"I decided then and there that I would kill him someday," he says in his statement, adding as far as he can remember this incident took place in 1999 or 2000. "I hid in the jungles for sometime. Neighbours brought me food while I remained in the jungle in hiding," he says.

One day, he recounts how he took a knife and went to the Rathnaweeras' shop where he stabbed Arthur Rathnaweera two or three times. But while he was stabbing him he says the knife bent in two and he threw it away and ran back into the jungle to hide.

Thereafter he says he met a person who worked in the Sri Lanka Air Force who he approached to get him a weapon. By this time he states the Rathnaweeras in their failed attempt to find him had shot dead his sister Leelawathi's husband, Wimalasena.

Wambotta says, "My need for revenge grew after that. Once again I told the person who worked at the Ratmalana air base to find me a weapon as soon as possible. He was about 30 years old and about six feet tall. He had been shot in the left eye and was partially blind. One day when I met him he told me that if I gave him Rs. 80,000 he would give me the weapon."

Wambotta claims he then called someone in his village and got down the money. Questioned on how he got the money to pay for the weapon he states that his elder brother Saman sold his tractor and gave him the cash.

He asserts that he then went to the air force camp in Ratmalana and paid for a T-81 weapon.  He claims he stuffed the weapon into his shirt, ran along the roads, jumped into a threewheeler and went all the way to Moratuwa using by lanes. He then says he got onto a night bus to Kataragama and went to Sooriyawewa.

"I realised this was a weapon used by air force personnel. I bought it to kill the Rathnaweera brothers. I went to the jungle and hid with my weapon. I hid like that and then one day I shot the Rathnaweeras' third brother in front of the Sooriyawewa garment factory. Although I searched for the other Rathnaweeras after that, I could not find them."

It is at this stage Wambotta says, " I hid out at Southern Provincial Councillor Chandi's house. I helped him and also Mahinda Rajapakse who I met through him, on their election work."

'Rathnaweeras got Chandi"

Chandi Malli was subsequently murdered outside the offices of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at York Street, Fort. According to Wambotta he claims it was the Rathnaweeras who got Chandi Malli killed.

Recalling the murder of Chandi Malli he says, "during this time I was in Mr. Mahinda  Rajapakse's house. I gave my T-81 weapon to Suranga. Army Suranga was a person from our village. I gave the weapon to him for safekeeping. But then because he was robbing and using my name to do it, I moved away from him. I took the T-81 from Suranga and gave it to Sudu Malli in Mahaweli. But Army Suranga had gone to Sudu Malli and told him that I wanted the weapon and taken it from him. Army Suranga has now been caught stealing and is in remand."

The more contentious part of this statement then emerges in the last two pages. According to the statement in our possession questions have been raised by police on why and how Wambotta had phone numbers of both police officers and politicians, including that of the Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament.

Wambotta allegedly responds that he kept the phone number of Temple Trees to contact the Prime Minister if the need arose. A phone number, which is not one for Temple Trees but for a telephone at Visumpaya.

More numbers

In relation to Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara, Wambotta's statement states, "I do not recall how I got this number. I have never met or spoken to the Speaker." For Lokubandara, Wambotta's diary carries contact number 0112777383.

Lokubandara's number in Parliament is 0112777222. This number, 0112777383 is for the library in parliament.

Another entry is for the OIC Colpetty, Siriwardena, 0773060125. Wambotta's statement says, "This number was given to me by a former police officer attached to the Presidential Security Division." The OIC for Colpetty answered on this number when we called.

For Sobitha Thero - 0777594570.  "This number was given to me by the lady at Chandima Traders in Embilipitiya." He states, "I spoke to the Thero and asked him for a pirith noola which I later wore."

And for Justice Minister John Seneviratne,  - 0452274140. "The number was given to me by Mr. Shashikala. So that I could call if it was ever necessary.  But I have never met or spoken to him," the statement says. The telephone number for Minister John Seneviratne at his electorate in Ratnapura is 0452274142.

Tents of despair

The tent community - a familiar sight in tsunami hit regions, People queue up outside the one day medical clinic

As the sun dawned last Sunday on a brand new day in Ahungalla, an abandoned tent community in Seenigama prepared to mark the third month anniversary of the tsunami.

Three months after the tsunami, this community is also preparing to offer an alms giving marked with religious observances for their loved ones who have been washed away.

Residing in tents that have been set up in an area which was once surrounded by thick shrubs, these people now live each day in hope - hope that someday they would live in a warm house with food and water where children are safe and in an environment which is clean.

While the three months alms giving is usually observed in houses and temples and food is served to those who attend the ceremony, these people prepare without a decent shelter above their heads - shelter which was promised by the government two months after the devastation.

Exposed to the raging sun, the plight of these people is unimaginable. Without any money, clothes or dry rations, an alms giving however will be conducted in this abandoned part of the town.

In a desperate bid to get a roof above their heads, this community is also preparing to conduct bodhi poojas in the nearby temple. While the women gather for the chanting in torn clothes and dirty feet, silence sets amongst the tents - each one praying silently that help would reach them soon.

Life begins in tents

It's seven o'clock in the morning and the women are busy tidying the tents. Little children run around half naked with bare feet. With the sight of strangers approaching the tents, the children stop playing and look at us with an innocent twinkle in their eyes. The sight of strangers brings them hope - hope of receiving toys and sweets, a luxury which they have not heard or seen in months.

Far away, a little child sits all alone under an old tree, drawing a picture of a house along the beach. The picture portrays two figures - one with a smiling face while the other is crying. With a broken pencil in his hand, he looks at us with a warm smile. "The one with a smiling face is me while the one with the crying face is also me. I had a beautiful house near the sea but it got washed away the day after Christmas. I don't understand why the sea took away my clothes and toys. I now live in a tent and I don't like it here because it's always hot and dirty. I also do not understand why nobody helps us," he says.

The little boy is right because as the sun dawns on this side of the town it is evident that the tents are located in an abandoned area.

Set up only inches away from one another, there are over 400 people who reside in these 140 tents. Now a world of its own, this area is better known as the 'tent community.'

A few feet away, three women come out of a tent and approach us with bananas and biscuits. The tea which they have made has no sugar or milk and tastes only of water.

"This is all we have to offer. We do not know where you'll are from but we have not had any visitors here before," they say. We later find out that they remained hungry that day as the little money that these women had earned during the week was spent in giving us a warm welcome.

Although greeting us with warm smiles, these people are desperate. With tents being large enough only to accommodate four people, families consisting of more than five members live in a tent, making it impossible for the women to cook and clean. A few stalls are situated close by, built for cooking purposes. However, due to heavy rain the ground is wet making it impossible for them to light the firewood.

With the wells consisting of contaminated water, clean water is scarce. "Sometimes members from the provincial council come and fill the tanks with clean water that can be used for cooking and washing purposes. But this is very rare as most of the days they fill the tanks with dirty water which makes it impossible for us to cook and clean," K. Nishanthi, a tent resident says. However, due to the desperate need for water, the tent residents end up bathing with the contaminated well water. The water is also used for washing clothes and cooking.

"We are forced to use this water as the authorities provide us water only when they feel like it. If not for a few private donors who bring us clean water, we would have died of thirst," Nishanthi says.

Unhygienic food

It is time for breakfast and there is a commotion in a nearby cooking stall. Standing in a long queue, the people await their turn to get their share of the treat. "Today is a very special day for us as a German lady by the name of Lotti has donated the necessary rations to make idiyappan and kirihodi for breakfast. Each member will receive 10 idiyappans with a little hodi," an old woman standing in the queue says. With the donation of such a meal, rare, the women who are involved in cooking have awoken at two o'clock in the morning in order to prepare 4,000 idiyappans to distribute among the 400 members of the tent community. Although the kitchen is full of flies and mosquitoes and the stench from the nearby garbage dumps are impossible to bear, these women and children work excitedly as they do not know when they would receive such a treat once again.

"The government has forgotten to provide us food. We cannot afford three meals a day because we have no money. Some nights, our children go to sleep hungry. When the men return to the tents after a hard day's work, the women have no food to offer them," an old woman says.

When it is finally her turn to receive the meal, this old woman hands in a torn plastic bag as she does not own a plate. Ignoring the mosquito that falls into her bag, she goes away with a smiling face to enjoy her treat.

Women are forced to cook in their tents due to the lack of a proper kitchen. Food is stored in dirty utensils, swarming by flies and insects. Their only meal generally consists of stale bread and dhal. Meat is a luxury in this part of the town and days when the Gods look down upon them, the women get lucky to purchase some vegetables and onions.

Food is often left outside during the nights due to the lack of space in the tents. This makes a good treat for animals and insects to feed on during the night and then the leftovers are once again consumed by the children and men in the morning.

Due to the lack of space, the women are also forced to bathe with only one bucket of water outside their tents while the food is stored only a few feet away. While these women bathe, dirty water is splashed onto the food. And the tent kids are often prone to illnesses. "We bathe with our clothes on outside the tents as we cannot go down to the wells as there are men who stare at us. Due to the scarcity of water, we receive only one bucket of water - sometimes contaminated water and we reuse this dirty water to wash our hair and body. Water splashes onto the food but we do not have space to go elsewhere. Children fall sick by eating such dirty food but what can we do?" M. Saroji asks.

Spreading disease

In such an environment, the risk of disease is high in these tents. With no access to medical facilities, more than 250 people residing in these tents have infected wounds on their hands and legs.

With the children mostly affected, mothers tie small pieces of dirty cloth as bandages to prevent the wounds being exposed to the dust.

"Our children are suffering. The wounds that many of us have we received during the tsunami. However, since there have been no doctors to treat us and we do not have any medicine, these wounds have now got infected with yellow matter oozing out of the wounds. Our children often have festering wounds and they often fall ill," Saroji says.

However, while these people complain about their plight, a little boy comes and informs his mother that a group of men have arrived at the nearby house.

A group of doctors have arrived to offer voluntary assistance to the tent community.

"Finally someone has thought of us," the women cry joyfully as they make their way hurriedly towards the house with children tucked under their arms.

The queue outside the house is long and as each one awaits their turn to see the doctor, they are lost in a world of silence wondering when they will receive such help again.

The medicine donated to these doctors have been offered by private donors which makes it clearly evident that the government has failed to respond to their pleas.

Unbearable heat

As the sun's rays become stronger, the heat inside the tents becomes unbearable. While the women light firewood outside the tents to prepare a meal for the afternoon, there is a high risk of the tents catching fire due to the excess amount of heat. Unable to bear the heat, the people leave their tents to stand under trees. However, due to the fear of pilferage, one family member remains in the tent.

"This heat is unbearable. We cannot take it anymore. It burns our skin and we cook with our eyes closed due to pain. These tents are thick which makes the heat even more unbearable," H. Leelawathi says.

She adds, "while politicians act concerned and show they are worried about the plight of the people, they sit in air-conditioned offices and hold various meetings and discussions, all of which are unsuccessful. They travel in AC vehicles and return to their luxury houses. If they want to know the plight of the people, we ask them to stay in these tents, in these surroundings. It is only then they will realise our plight."

As the heat is unbearable we too have to stand under a cool shade watching silently the torture that these people face - hoping to God that we never wake up to such a miserable fate.

Due to the area being an abandoned piece of land, snakes and poisonous creatures roam about freely, exposing the people to more danger.

"Our children play in these surroundings and we sleep in these tents. This is our home and if we have snakes and animals roaming freely, how are we to survive. We live in fear 24 hours as the children play outside. But we cannot stop them from playing. What if something bites them? With no doctors or medicine, they will die of poisoning," K. Manoji says.

Night life

As darkness sets in, the men return home after a hard day's work even though it's a Sunday. While some return home with a few rupees, others return home with empty pockets, aware that the family would sleep on an empty stomach that night.

As the street lights in the area are broken, each family is provided with a kerosene lamp - gifts by donors - to dispel the darkness.

Children sit on the ground with books sprawled in front of them, bending close into their notes due to the poor light. However, as the lamp is taken outside for a little while for some other need, they sit in the darkness ignoring the mosquitoes and insects on their skins.

Going to the toilets in the night is impossible due to the total darkness. With common toilets situated in far corners, these people answer nature's calls just outside their tents in the nights. "The toilets are far away therefore we cannot go to them in the night. We have been pleading with the authorities to fix the streetlights ever since we were moved here. But our pleas have fallen on deaf ears," an old man says.

Night time is also the time when children are forced to stay inside the tents. As darkness sets in, prostitution and drug dealings begin within the tents making it impossible for the families to step out.

'Business'

A commotion starts in one of the tents in a far corner. An old woman yells for help as she comes running out of the tent. People come out in fear that somebody has been raped or murdered. The old lady has been beaten severely and she makes her way to the road pleading for help. As a few men come to her rescue she explains that she has been beaten by her tent mate's lover. "She has started her 'little business' by taking in different men each night. When she is involved in indecent behaviour where am I to sleep? Tonight I entered the tent and saw her with a man and when I asked him to get out, he abused me, beating me on my head and chest. I cannot live like this anymore. Why doesn't anybody understand that I want to be left alone? I lost my husband and children in the waves and now I wish I had died too because I face hell here," the old woman laments.

With lone survivors also allocated  tents with total strangers rivalry is high. Fights take place often in the tents and when a cops entry is made, the police ignore the situation. "What's the use going to the police? Even if someone is murdered they will not come to investigate," the men complain.

Sleeping in the tents is also impossible due to mosquitoes and the fear of snakes and insects creeping in. Dogs bark outside in the darkness and we shut our eyes in hope that we will soon be overcome by sleep, ignoring the ants and insects creeping over our bodies.

A new day

The next day being a Monday, people awake before the crack of dawn. With a queue outside the common toilets from four o'clock in the morning, children rest on their mothers' shoulders half asleep, crying with aches and pains to avoid school. Due to the lack of water in the toilets, women fill out buckets from a nearby tank waiting patiently for their turn.

There is havoc in the tents in the mornings while children and men get dressed for work and school and the women make tea in between the commotion.

Mothers hurry their children as a 'tsunami bus' arrives at seven o'clock to drop the children to school. Children start crying as their mothers put on their socks, as they do not want to go to school in black socks. "The children get punished everyday in school as the teachers have now made a rule that children should wear white socks only. We do not have money to buy our meals, so how can we buy our children socks? What are we supposed to do to the black socks that we have? We can't just throw them away," P. Sylvia says.

As the tsunami bus arrives the children hurry to get a seat in the bus. Mothers drop the younger ones in the bus and stand on the sides till the bus leaves.

Although the children are now laughing, involved in playful activity with other kids, most of them are going to school on empty stomachs. However, these children are satisfied with what they have and do not complain, aware of the misery that they are surrounded in.

The hope of the government providing them with houses is fading each day. Exposed to such a terrible life, the tent community however has not given up. "We will not give up. Many of us have seen our children, spouses, parents and friends being dragged into the sea. God has wanted us to live and although we receive no help, we face each day as it comes," the men say.

"Many of us have partially damaged houses within the 100 metre zone. The government does not allow us to move into our homes till such time that they find us houses elsewhere. We are wasting our breath over the politicians in this country. It is no use," they add and turn away with disappointment in their eyes to face another long day in the tents.