Mannar Magistrate A. Judeson ordered the CID to arrest 26 more suspects allegedly involved in the attack on the Mannar Magistrate’s Court on July 19. The Magistrate also ordered further remand until August 14, of 13 suspects earlier arrested by the Police. Although the CID has completed its investigations into the alleged phone calls made [...]

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Further arrests ordered with re-remand of those already in custody

Wasantha Ramanayake
Attack on Mannar Magistrate’s court
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Mannar Magistrate A. Judeson ordered the CID to arrest 26 more suspects allegedly involved in the attack on the Mannar Magistrate’s Court on July 19. The Magistrate also ordered further remand until August 14, of 13 suspects earlier arrested by the Police.

Although the CID has completed its investigations into the alleged phone calls made by Minister Rishard Bathuideen, threatening the Mannar Magistrate and the report had been handed over to the Attorney General for instructions, the CID is yet to arrest the prime suspects behind the attack on the Magistrate’s Court.

Although Mannar lawyers are on strike the Mannar Magistrate arrives to court daily. Pic by S.R. Lambert

Mannar Bar Association President Attorney-at-Law E.C. Feldano charged that the CID had intentionally dropped three prime suspects from their further report to the magistrate, including a close relative of Minister Bathuideen, a police constable assigned to the minister’s security detail and a moulavi.

“We will complain to the IGP against the actions of the CID, because its officials have omitted three major suspects in their further report to the Court,” he noted. “The CID has reduced the number of suspects from 32 to 26,”he charged.Mr. Feldano said that Mannar Bar would stay away from the Magistrate Court until the CID shows real interest in arresting the suspects who roam freely in the streets of Mannar, although the CID reported to the Magistrate’s Court that they were absconding.
He said that the CID had obtained an order from the Mannar Magistrate to be carried through Mannar SP to arrest the rest of the suspects, who according to the CID, are absconding.

He claimed that the CID was telling lies, “We meet these suspects every day in the street, because Mannar is a small place. That is why we continue our protest, because the CID is not interested in arresting them. Had they not been under pressure, they could have easily arrested them,” he said.

He said, “Although the police have, to date, arrested around 13 suspects, only three suspects were actually involved in the incident, while the others were onlookers on the day of the incident.However, Police Spokesman SP Ajith Rohana said that he could not comment as he needed to check on it. “Investigations on the attack on the court are not yet concluded,” he said.
According to the police spokesman, the CID had questioned Minister Bathuideen on Thursday. Earlier, the CID had recorded statements from the Mannar Magistrate and several lawyers.

Meanwhile, the Jaffna and Vavuniya Bars ended their boycott of the Magistrate’s Courts since the attack on July 19 and resumed their appearances in the courts. In another development, unidentified persons threw stones at a house belonging to Mannar magistrate’s father-in-law, on July 28, damaging glass panes and a rear door of a vehicle parked there.
Police sources said that no arrests had been made, while failing to file ‘B’ reports due to the ongoing “stay away from courts,” campaign by the lawyers of the Mannar Bar Association. However, police are proving security to the house, the sources said.




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