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Anura K. seeks clarification of Govt.’s multiple choice reasons for transfer
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka queried the transfer of 23 members of the police Organised Crime Division (OCD) following their raid on the Salaka Ruchino casino in Colombo, and called on the Govt. to provide a detailed answer to Parliament.
Speaking during the votes of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, the DNA MP said that, within 24 hours of raiding the casino, members of the Unit were transferred to places such as Mannar, Kilinochchi and Batticaloa by the Law and Order Ministry.
The MP said that several versions have been given about what led to the transfer. The police spokesman said they were transferred, as they had served for over a year in the Unit, while another version is that the officials were involved in the harassment of a Muslim businessman and his family in the Piliyandala area, which led to their transfer. A third version by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna, when the matter was raised in Parliament, is that, they were transferred because they were inefficient, the DNA MP said.
He questioned as to when and who had made the decision that police officers who serve in a particular area for over a year, are to be transferred? “I am saying with responsibility that two of those transferred officials have served less than a year,” the DNA MP said.
He also queried if the officers had been deemed inefficient because they conducted the raid on the casino. MP Dissanayaka said that, while there was speculation in the media as to who was behind the police transfer, it had now come to light that it was the Directior General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Lakshman Hulugalle who instigated the transfers.
“People’s private lives are not our concern, but it is criminal to use the powers they have to further and protect their caddish behaviour,” the DNA MP said.
He also asked why the MCNS had been abolished in haste. “If the principal of a school does something wrong, will you close the school or will you have an inquiry? By closing down the school, you cannot whitewash the wrongdoer,” the DNA MP said.