The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been directed by the Defence Ministry to initiate action against those illegally occupying state land, buildings and warehouses.
A senior CID officer told the Sunday Times the order had been given by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa following disclosures that there were a number of instances of illegal occupation of state land and buildings.
“We have also been told to initiate action against those who have failed to pay required taxes for state buildings though they had obtained them through the proper channels,” he said.
He said that in one of the cases, a businessman in Mattakkuliya had rented out three warehouses. This required him to pay Rs. 6.5 million a year, but he had failed to pay the dues to the state with the arrears running up to Rs 22 million.
“In addition, we found that the businessman had rented out the three warehouses illegally to another businessman,” he said.
All three warehouses have been re-acquired by the government.
The officer said the Defence Ministry would soon be calling for public support to help detect those illegally occupying state land and buildings. The CID on its own would be sending out teams to investigate these cases. |
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