Three including interdicted former magistrate granted bail over elephant calf case

Three persons including interdicted former magistrate Thilina Gamage have been granted bail by the Colombo High Court today (Aug 30) after being indicted over the unlawful possession of an elephant calf.

The Attorney General has charged four suspects under 25 counts for being in the possession of an elephant calf named ‘Sakura’ in Meegoda between November 6, 2008 and May 18, 2015.

However, Chandrasena Bandara, an individual claiming to be the owner of the elephant, who is also the first accused, had been remanded after failing to meet the bail conditions.

Among the other suspects are two former employees of the Wildlife Department named Priyanka Sanjeewani and Upali Padmasiri.

Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris requested court to issue orders in order to confirm the residence of the first accused, since he had not been residing at the address provided by him.

Mr. Peiris, appearing for the prosecution said that the sister of the accused had informed the police that she had not seen her brother for more than three years.

Court also granted permission for the prosecution to submit a certified copy of the particulars of the elephant calf which had been recorded as the 334^th entry in the ‘Elephant Book’ - which contains particulars of registered elephants in the country.

The case was fixed for further examination on September 20.

(Reporting by Manopriya Gunasekara)