Attorney General calls Inspector General of Police to probe leak of letter

Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe has called the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya to carry out a probe on the leak of  an important document sent to CID.

The AG wants the IGP to investigate how a letter he sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ordering them to temporarily suspend implementing his earlier instructions to discharge three suspects arrested on charges of abducting slain Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge’s driver and destroying evidence, was leaked to outside parties before it was submitted to court.

The probe has been ordered due to suspicions that the letter had been leaked to outside parties with the aim of embarrassing the AG’s Department.

The AG’s instructions have already been conveyed to the Acting IGP over the phone and are to be officially conveyed via letter tomorrow (17), the Sunday Times understands.

On January 27, the AG had recommended the CID discharge the three suspects, who are appearing at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court. The resulting controversy resulted in AG Ranasinghe being summoned to a meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, where he maintained his stance that there was not enough evidence to proceed with legal action against the three suspects. The AG though, had said that he can refile charges against the suspects if new evidence were to emerge in the future.

Last Monday, the CID had submitted three folders containing new facts related to the case to the AG’s Department. On Tuesday, the CID sent a letter requesting the AG to give more time for them to act on his instructions to discharge the suspects arrested in connection with the complaint made by Mr Wickrematunge’s driver Karunaratne Dias.

While the CID was bound to act on the AG’s instructions within 14 days, the department had written to the AG asking for more time to act due to the controversy surrounding the matter. In response to this request, a letter with instructions to temporarily suspend discharging the three suspects was issued bearing the signature of Senior Additional Solicitor General Rohantha Abeysuriya. It was this letter, personally handed over to two CID officers, which later ended up being leaked, AG’s Department sources said.

By Ranjith Padmasiri