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A disappointed man
Former CID boss Punnya de Silva who joined the private sector was a disappointed man. He had his ceremonial send-off many weeks after quitting the service. The gala event was with much fun-fare and cameramen from the Police video unit were on hand to record what seemed a historic event.

Alas - when the former CID big boss who was in charge of Field Force Headquarters later checked out all the video footage, the tapes were blank. That was not the only blank that was to hit the former DIG. Another came in his immediate private sector assignment. The big boss there asked him to leave and paid him an additional month's salary .
It seemed giving directions from that private sector company to CID bosses did not pay any dividend.

Talk show surprises
Live television political debates spring surprises from time to time. Last week such a show on a state run TV station resulted in much controversy. First it was the non-presence of Chief Opposition Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe at the discussion that caused the stir. The moderator noted that he had been informed less than an hour earlier that Mr.Samarasinghe would be present on the show but instead another UNPer Kabeer Hasheem showed up. This gave rise to many rumours including that the Opposition Whip has been asked not to attend by the UNP leadership. Mr. Hasheem's explanation was that the party normally has three members standing by and if one cannot attend another one will.

Inquiry into impersonation
Later into the show there was more controversy.
A man allegedly claiming to be Small and Rural Industries Minister K.D. Lal Kantha made a phone call to the show where the JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva too was a participant. Soon it transpired that the caller was not the Minister and now he has lodged a complaint with the CID.So now the TV show has become the subject of a police inquiry.

Troublesome trio
Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera blamed three persons in the Opposition benches of making false allegations against the Government saying it was not providing tsunami aid. He did not name them but only described them as the vicious dentist, the bent professor and the crooked trawler owner. It wouldn't take a genius to guess who the trio was, but blaming all the Government's woes on the opposition doesn't work for long.

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