By Alia
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The wrong car
With Speaker Anura Bandaranaike abroad, his deputy, Major General Sarath Munasinghe, had to cope with an increased work load in the past weeks as Parliament debated the budget. As one of his aides remarked, it was a case of going home in the evenings to sleep and getting back the next morning.Last Monday was no exception. After presiding at the Committee Stage sessions till evening, he patiently listened to three Cabinet Ministers. They were meeting him to make representations on issues that had cropped up that day.
With that over, when he rose from his office chair to leave for home, radio sets of his personal security personnel crackled. The Deputy Speaker would arrive at the departure area to board his car, said the warning.
When Maj. Gen. Munasinghe was about to board his official Volvo car, he noticed something was amiss. The Police motor cycle outriders who cleared the route as well as the advance vehicles were missing. The staff who remained shivered in trepidation. How could they tell the Deputy Speaker that they were all there only a few seconds ago.
They managed to get a member of the personal staff to pass the message to the Deputy Speaker. Unruffled by what had happened, he managed to reach home. A Police vehicle with a siren was used to clear the way.
It was only when he reached home that he learnt of what had happened. The motor cycle outriders and men on the advance vehicle were not only there but had carried out their job. But there was a mistake. Instead of escorting Deputy Speaker Munasinghe's Volvo, they had escorted a similar vehicle belonging to Telecommunications Minister, Nimal Siripala de Silva.
For a moment, the latter had wondered why he had been showered with high profile security. He soon found out that it was caused by a confusion over a Volvo.
No doubt about it
Sleuths who probed the conduct of a high ranking Army officer involved in a sex scandal have declared he allegedly committed a criminal offence. They have spelt out provisions under the law where he could be indicted.Commenting on claims that allegations against him were the handiwork of his enemies and that he was only involved in an accident, sleuths have reported there was no evidence whatsoever to back this claim. Even medical evidence, they had said, were to the contrary.
Quick results
Alia's comments last week about sleuths of the Directorate of Foreign Intelligence (DFI) being cooped up in just two rooms have had its sequel.Additional Director (and soon to be Director), DIG Gaya Pathikirikorale, has now secured six rooms for his men.
Yet, DFI's woes are not yet over. One controversy centres around overseas postings. Two ASPs, just out of a Police training institution, were to be posted to serve two important capitals.
Insiders say the move has been stalled on orders from the top. This is on grounds that the duo are inexperienced.
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