Special Assignment

14th March 1999

Shooting coach on firing line

'Baseless allegations, someone is trying to fix me'

Shooting coach on firing line

Sex, illegal arms deals and underworld link cast a pall of gloom over the sport

Many allegations surface as police continue investigations

Sharp shooting, an exclusive sport where Sri Lanka has strived for international recognition has been the front for a highly influential group, including senior security forces personnel, to indulge in an illegal arms trade, sex and other questionable activity, it is alleged.

An investigation by The Sunday Times suggest a possibility of a sizeable volume of arms and ammunition being leaked to the underworld through some members of this group, sometimes overcoming Defence Ministry restrictions and at other times simply ignoring them.

During visits abroad to represent Sri Lanka at international shooting competitions, the team that included a senior security forces officer took time off their tight schedule to indulge in sex acts in the rooms of their luxury hotels.

Funding for these trips abroad came as sponsorship deals from leading commercial establishments which wanted to promote the sport.

One such case was the Sri Lanka team that went to the Philippines in March 1996, for the International Practical Shooting Competition Australasian Open Level 4.

Boosted by the presence of guns and alcohol, it is alleged that some of our sharp shooters had Filipino prostitutes pose with the very weapons that were used in the international shooting competition.

Five women shooters from the security forces, together with two male shooters also from the security forces who formed the team at this event, were unaware of the goings on of some of their collegues in their rooms of the same hotel.

In one picture, a security forces officer is seen with his head cuddling the naked breasts of his female companion. In another, he is seen removing the brassiere of a prostitute.

In a third, he poses cradling two women, sipping a can of beer while a fourth photograph shows him on a bed with the two prostitutes hugging him with a gun and a can of beer in their hands. The officer concerned holds a highly sensitive position in the security force concerned, raising questions on whether such conduct could compromise national security.

A Sri Lankan shooting coach had also posed with two prostitutes clinging on to him.

A participant to this group sex, was a newcomer to sportsshooting. He was a member of the Negombo and Nuwara Eliya Rifle Club and heads his own business at Colombo 7. He was, however, not a member of the shooting team.

As the sex orgy progressed the Lankan shooters became more daring and got the Filipino prostitutes to pose in the semi nude and nude, pointing the Tangfolio 0.9m pistol, which is said to belong to the national coach to this event in the Philippines.

The Sunday Times is in possession of photographs, showing the gun-toting sex acts.

In 1995, too, it is alleged that this coach went to the Philippines for a similar competition. According to the minutes of the National Rifle Association (NRA) of July 14 ,1995, he attended the practical pistol shooting competition at the Philippines in his capacity as secretary to the NRA.

Here too photographs showed prostitutes posing clasping his Tangfolio .9m pistol in his hotel room. On August 6, 1995, he had photographed a foreign prostitute pointing his gun standing in front of his blue blazer with the emblem of the National Rifle Association. In yet another photograph two days later, another prostitute, dressed only in a bikini panty, poses pointing the pistol.

Another instance was in October 1996 when the coach attended the World Shooting X1 in Brazil as an official of a sporting body.

While in Brazil, he photographed a naked prostitute in different poses. In one photograph she stands next to his cabin bag.

The same bag which he used in March that year to travel to the Philippines, where photographs point to sex orgies.

The man at the centre of controversy and investigations is Sarath de Zoysa, a planter turned officer, turned sharp shooter with a career studded with allegations of irregularities — one of the allegations being that he supplied the underworld with weapons.

A document of a state intelligence arm, obtained by The Sunday Times, says Mr. de Zoysa took a keen interest in sport shooting in the 1980s. A student of former President J. R. Jayewardene's son, Ravi Jayewardene, who introduced practical pistol shooting to Sri Lanka, Mr. de Zoysa soon worked his way up in the sport with his perseverance and innate ability. He then took a commercial interest in the sport trying to sell various items, according to the intelligence agency.

According to this intelligence document, Mr. de Zoysa was not so concerned about the legality of his deals. He set about bidding for tenders and marketing expensive sporting weapons, the report alleged.

Working his way into the NRA as secretary and the newly formed Sports Shooting Association also as general secretary, he became bolder and began to openly market his weapons.

But in 1997, he was thrown out of the NRA board.

Citing NRA council members, the intelligence document claims that before his expulsion as NRA secretary, Mr. de Zoysa proposed Errol Dharmaratne, who was not a member of the SSA, to the NRA as a member of the SSA. The intelligence report citing NRA minutes says Mr. de Zoysa had failed to mention Mr. Dharmaratne's club. Mr. Dharmaratne is at present a member of the Negombo and Nuwara Eliya Rifle Club.

This intelligence report also says that Mr. de Zoysa influenced an official of the Colombo Rifle Club to obtain a recommendation to get a licence from the Defence Ministry for a .44 magnum handgun.

Not even the Sri Lanka Army possess a .44 magnum. It is a high calibre weapon, and considered to be the most powerful handgun in the world. One shot from its 6 inch barrel can split the engine of an approaching lorry or car at a distance of 200 metres.

Mr. de Zoysa enlisted in the Sri Lanka Rifle Corps and holds the rank of captain. He thereafter got himself assigned to the Commando Regiment as an instructor. The report alleges that Mr. de Zoysa had access to the armoury at Ganemulla where surrendered and seized unlicensed civilian weapons were stored.

According to the intelligence report, he initially got around the armourer, telling him that he had got permission from Lt. Col. Sarath Handapangoda, Chief Executive Officer, and ordered him to show the number of weapons stored at the armoury. Later, when the CEO heard this, he initiated an inquiry which is still pending.

The Sunday Times probe found that not even 0.5% of large calibre weapons are owned by forces personnel. Most of the big calibre guns are in the hands of civilians. Conducting an in-depth overview of the gun culture in Sri Lanka today, it was nearly impossible to ascertain how many of these weapons have been legitimately authorized by the Defence Ministry, and how they have been disposed of.

Our investigations indicate that the Defence Ministry is not in possession of files pertaining to the activities of this person.

Senior Army officials told The Sunday Times the relevant files had been removed from the Defence Ministry.

Mr. de Zoysa, the intelligence report alleges, has been involved in the manufacture of ammunition, duty free import of arms components and ammunition, conducting business with members of gun clubs, and smuggling guns and ammunition while holding an official post both at the National Rifle Association and as shooting coach to the Army and Navy.

A national shooter who spoke on grounds of anonymity told The Sunday Times that practical pistol shooting, as a sport, is not encouraged in the world today, due to security reasons. It is used only for VVIP security. Only a few countries encourage this type of shooting as a sport.

High ranking army sources told The Sunday Times that Mr. de Zoysa who was a superintendent of Craigie Lea Estate in Talawakelle was interdicted by the management company a few years ago but he continued to live in the bungalow and use the company vehicle until recently. He had claimed that the vehicle was requisitioned by the Army. The sources claimed that he gave this vehicle on hire to the Army and received payment.

Mr. de Zoysa was in the news in December last year when following a tip off, the Bambalapitiya police raided his house. His wife told police they had no arms or ammunition in the house. Confident that their information was accurate the police insisted on searching the house.

On the second floor, an officer spotted a wall cupboard with books. The bookcase however had a cover and was secured by bolts. Curious, the officer, unlocked the cover and found a hidden safe which held a cache of some 8000 rounds of ammunition, rifles (303 type) and five weapons including revolvers. The police have sent the file to the Attorney General's department for action.

Senior Army officials asked why a sportsman would require such high calibre weapons. According to World Shooting Regulations all a sports shooter needs is a .22 rifle, air rifle and .22 pistol, or a .32 pistol.

Mr. de Zoysa figured again early this year. This time it was when the Criminal Investigation Department launched an investigation into a container load of arms and ammunition. The consignment was addressed to Mr. de Zoysa and an Air Force officer.

The CID inquiry shows that Mr. de Zoysa, had used this container to have some of his components cleared by the Air Force on a duty free basis along with other Air Force supplies. The container held rounds of ammunition, gun powder, primers and re-loading equipment, that the police claim had not been ordered by the Air Force. At present this consignment is lying at the Air Force base at Katunayake, pending official inquiry.

This intelligence report alleges that in one instance, de Zoysa was nabbed by a sharp-eyed customs officer for bringing in a sniper rifle 7.62mm together with telescopic lenses. This rifle has an accuracy of upto 1000 metres.

When asked by a customs officer what was in a long box, he had said that it was a pistol. Suspicious, the customs officer, who had been a teacher at the National Cadet Corp, and so had a knowledge of weapons, demanded that he to open the box. Mr. de Zoysa is reported to have protested vehemently, saying that normally his baggage was not opened.

However, the Customs officer got him to open the box and found it contained a rifle and not a pistol as claimed by Mr. de Zoysa. He tried phoning a brigadier who was then president of the NRA, to get the rifle released, but customs were adamant that until he got clearance from the Defence Ministry they would not release the rifle. Mr. de Zoysa returned five days later with a letter from the Defence Ministry authorizing the clearance of this rifle.

The intelligence report reveals that the Army is now conducting an investigation into how Mr. de Zoysa obtained a letter of mobilization by the Army, as a trainer of shooters, and drew pay from the Army without reporting to the appropriate unit.

One senior army officer said Mr. de Zoysa was caught tampering with an attendance register, when he was serving at Diyatalawa for six months. Checking the attendance register subsequently it was found, that Mr. de Zoysa's name had been entered last in the list every month and every day had been marked as present including poya holidays and all week-ends.

The report further asserts that Mr. de Zoysa established a working relationship with successive middle level and high ranking Army officers including a former chief of staff. According to the report, Mr. de Zoysa even claimed he had obtained a letter from an Army commander to manufacture ammunition.

There are no proper controls, and according to this letter, Mr. de Zoysa would receive duty free facilities through the Army to import components and other items. In granting this approval the Army apparently acted in good faith together with the Defence Secretary at the time, on the recommendation of senior Army officers.

High level Army officers have questioned why the Army allowed this when a commissioned regular officer could have done the job in a more regimented and accountable way. Mr. de Zoysa is alleged to have got himself mobilized and paid by the army on the pretext of doing NRA work for the Army.

Yet another matter under investigation by the Army, according to this intelligence report, is an instance where Mr. de Zoysa took two expensive weapons from the Army and returned in a bag only some parts supposedly representing the other. A court of inquiry was initiated by Brigadier Gamini Hettiarachchi, but the case has still not been concluded.

Functioning as coach, Mr. de Zoysa was finally investigated and dismissed from the Army in 1996 by the then Army Commander Rohan Daluwatte.

The ex-Army Chief demobilized Mr. de Zoysa from service after it was proved that for four years he had collected a salary from the Army without reporting to any specific unit.

Mr. de Zoysa at present is assisting a high ranking security services officer who headed the national shooting team to the Philippines in March 1996, to train his two children, a son and daughter, to shoot at the naval range in the outskirts of Colombo.

'Baseless allegations, someone is trying to fix me'

The Sunday Times spoke to Mr. de Zoysa, to get his comments on today's special assignment.

"All allegations levelled against me are false," he said.

Mr. de Zoysa denied he was photographed with prostitutes in the Philippines. He said "there is no such thing."

He said he had not been involved in the illegal sale of arms and ammunition. However he said he had always followed legal procedures when selling weapons.

Asked about the raid on his house in December last year, Mr. de Zoysa said this had been initiated after someone sent a petition to the police saying he was married to a Jaffna Tamil. He said when the police arrived they found this allegation to be false.

His wife, he said, volunteered to show arms and ammunition in the house.

"The Bambalapitiya police have returned the arms and ammunition they removed from my house," he said adding that the police had realised the allegation was mischievous.

The Bambalapitiya police however told The Sunday Times that they only returned the weapons for which Mr. de Zoysa held a license. Unlicensed weapons are being held by the police who are continuing with their investigation.

On the allegation that he had used the Air Force to get down arms and ammunition to Sri Lanka, Mr. de Zoysa said: "there is nothing illegal about this import. I supply these items to the Sri Lanka Air Force and it is in this context the container was imported."

Mr. de Zoysa told The Sunday Times that for the last ten years, he has been functioning as the national shooting coach for Sri Lanka, and still continues to offer his services to any of the armed forces who require his expertise.

He charged that two other sports shooters were trying "to fix me."

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