Interpol assistance sought to arrest former diplomat

The  Magistrate’s Court has permitted Police to seek Interpol assistance to arrest Sepala Rathnayaka, former Minister (Consular and Immigration) of the High Commission to the UK, in connection with a child abuse case, local media reported. According to reports Rathnayaka has been charged with allegedly abducting a 14-year-old child and using him for a news item without his guardians’ consent. The Police started investigations into the case after the child’s mother lodged a complaint with the Police Children and Women’s Bureau over the abduction. Telecommunications Regulatory Commission former Director General Anusha Palpita, former Deputy General Manager of ITN Sudharman Radaliyagoda, ASP Sarachchandra Gunathilaka and seven others have already been prosecuted over the slanderous news item aired on ITN,  before the Presidential election, in January. In the news item, the child said his mother was being detained by Maithripala Sirisena, who was the Common Candidate of the opposition at the time. It has now been revealed that the child, who appeared in the news item, was detained inside a house in Keppetipola Mawatha, Colombo, where there was an election office to support the campaign of the former President. According to local media reports Police sources were quoted as saying  vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat had been used to transport the child to this house after the alleged abduction. The Police had informed the Magistrate’s Court that following the former President’s defeat at the election, Rathanayaka had left for the United Kingdom. He was recalled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 17, when it recalled over 50 Sri Lankan diplomats who were political appointees of the previous government. However, the Police had received information that Rathnayaka was still in the United Kingdom and his whereabouts are unknown. The Police requested permission to seek Interpol assistance to trace the ex-Sri Lankan diplomat .