Rumble behind roulette

Survival of the toughest in Casino business

Some top bosses in the gambling, fun and entertainment business are alleged to have hired the services of armed state security personnel to intimidate and harass small-time operators in the trade in a bid to frighten them out of business.

Several small-time operators told The Sunday Times they did not want to take the matter up with the police or relevant authorities for fear of reprisals by these licensed goons, many of whom provide security to prominent VIPs.

They claim that these gun-toting personnel walk into casinos at any given time and request large sums of money and items such as foreign liquor and tobacco, often dropping the name of a bigwig in the Government or some key public institution.

At least two leading casino figures are known to be tied up with these persons, and they make very little effort to conceal their relationship, as they swagger in to enforce their menacing presence.

These errant security personnel, apart from receiving handsome payouts from the larger casino operators are also provided with other entertainment including foreign prostitutes. All they have to do in return is to keep the heat on the smaller operators.

And the heat, they do keep, to scary levels.

Only the other day an armed gang, their faces hidden behind masks stormed into a casino that opened recently and warned the operator of what is in store for him if he did not put down shutters.

And all this happened close to the high-security zone near Temple Trees.

Here again, the casino owner decided to keep mum about the entire episode and the police were not called in.

In another incident a youth was assaulted and pistol-whipped by a gang travelling in a state vehicle on the outskirts of the metropolis after he ignored threats and warnings against opening a casino.

However this youth refused to buckle down to the threats and went on to open the casino shortly after the attack. Since then he has had several visits from various hired goons, demanding cash and gifts.

Another small-time casino owner said that the bigger operators not only carried out their business with the backing of state security personnel, but they also maintained a lucrative relationship with several top politicians.

"Therefore taking them head on will always be an uphill task, as long as there are politicians to back them in whatever they do", the owner who did not wish to be named for obvious reasons told The Sunday Times.

It is also alleged that these same personnel are used to torture and rough up employees suspected of cheating at the gambling tables. Strangely though, none of these happenings is reported to police by the victims for reasons that are obvious. At present there some 15 to 20 casinos are in operation in the city and suburbs.

It is also rumoured that the notorious Singaporean, Joe Sim has also been in contact with some of the local casino big timers.

Sim, who at one time controlled the bulk of the casino trade together with local operators, was unceremoniously kicked out of the country on the orders of the former Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne.

Sim was seen last year with some of the present top casino operators in Singapore, and at the 'Cyclone' a popular night spot in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. It is widely suspected that Sim has made several trips to the country, perhaps travelling on a fake passport, and may be in some way involved in the present casino set up, sources said.

Here is what one veteran in the business had to say. "In this trade one cannot afford to be weak. Force should be met by force, and the stronger will survive. It is true that some illegal happenings do take place in the trade, but there is no one to complain to."

He said he had not experienced any sort of threat from these so-called goons but vowed to deal with them appropriately should the situation arise at any time.

A senior official attached to the city police commented that the department was left powerless in such situations since there were no complaints. The victims should either individually or in a group bring the matter up with the police at the highest level and then the law would take its course, he said.

"What we need here is a complaint, and then matters could be worked out," Senior DIG Crimes H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya told The Sunday Times.

"Even if state security officials are involved in such activities, policemen or otherwise, a thorough investigation will be done and the matter will be dealt with according to the laws of the land," he said.

Kadawata's fatal attraction

Husband's head for second bed

By Leon Berenger

It was murder most foul, and it happened on the night of October 21. Don Kingsley Sirimanne was in deep sleep when a garrote was thrown around his neck and in a few moments his body lay limp on the bed.

In his dying moments, perhaps the victim's last thoughts would have been of his two sons and daughter who were asleep in the adjoining room, and may be even of his wife.

A few hours earlier, the Sirimanne had watched a late night Sinhala programme on TV and gone to bed.

The case was first reported to the Kadawata police as just another bungled robbery that ended with deadly results.

Don Kingsley's wife, Shanthi, was found by neighbours gagged and in a terrible state of shock. She was later admitted to the Ragama hospital, where she was kept under observation for several hours, only to be interrupted by the entry of the police.

Kadawata's Chief Inspector P. K. Edmund Tilakaratna told her that some damning evidence had surfaced and that she was wanted at the police station immediately.

Even for a moment she did not suspect that she was technically being placed under arrest for the killing of her husband.

All along, the police had placed the wife as the chief suspect, but they were now seeking to find out who the executioner was and so a careful interrogation of the suspect began at the Kadawata police station.

It did not take long before the woman broke down, crying for mercy and at the same time spilling out all the details of the horrible incident and the planning that led to that fateful night.

No, it was not a burgled robbery as the police were first made to believe, but instead a well planned execution, which according to inspector Thilakaratna was planned by the victim's wife.

Earlier in his life Don Kingsley had toiled for nearly a decade in several West Asian countries before returning to Sri Lanka some 14 years ago to set up a small but successful auto trade at Eldeniya in Kadawata.

He later went on to marry his childhood sweetheart who bore him three children, and there seemed to be little or nothing amiss at the Sirimanne home.

However of late the wife is alleged to have started a serious love affair with a corporal of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

Don Kingsley soon got wind of this affair and told his wife to give it up, at least for the sake of the children.

The wife did not change and Kingsley became more and more anxious or angry and even over-possessive of his wife. But the woman stuck to her new found lover despite all the telling or warning from her husband and even advice from some relatives fell on deaf ears.

Kingsley begun placing restrictions and soon the wife was a virtual prisoner at home as even the telephone was banned.

She was not only annoyed but also became frustrated. Soon she got the opening that she was waiting for. One day, owing to certain problems, she was allowed to go out to pick up her five-year-old daughter from a school in Maradana.

It was on this day that she met her paramour once again. Together they allegedly planned to kill the man who stood between them.

The plan was simple. The lover was given a key to the main door of the house. He was to enter the place shortly after midnight when the victim was sure to be asleep. He was also allegedly instructed to gag up the woman and take some valuables for it to look like robbery. As the wife watched, her paramour allegedly strangled her husband. Everything went smoothly for the pair up to the killing but things changed as the police got more deeply involved in the case.

"Right along I was convinced that the woman was in some way connected to the killing," inspector Tilakaratna said.

At first she vehemently denied any connection, but gradually broke down and confessed under vigorous interrogation, he said.

Now it was time to get at her paramour, and soon he was arrested with the co-operation of the Air Force authorities.

The corporal Wasantha Rohana who serves as a gunner with the Air Force allegedly told police that he was forced to carry out the killing as he was under intense pressure from the woman. "At one stage she even threatened to kill herself if the killing was not carried out on that night," the suspect who is also married with two children is alleged to have told police.

Police say the murder weapon was several strands of copper wire bound together to form a garrote. The suspects are alleged to have got rid of this evidence by dumping it into the nearby Kelani river.

The pair were later produced in courts and remanded. Some day justice may be done, but this tragic incident will permanently affect the lives of three innocent children.

With their father dead, and the mother behind bars, the children who are now being looked after by relatives will grow up with subconscious wounds that may never be healed.

Anti-filaria campaign underway

The Health Ministry has launched a national treatment campaign to eradicate filaria, in the endemic areas in the country, on the recommendations of the WHO.

The house-to-house treatment programme launched on October 17 will go on until the three provinces, Western, Southern and North Western, which have been identified as endemic to filaria are covered.

Officials in charge of the anti filaria Campaign have requested residents to be present in their homes in order to successfully carry out the treatment.

Chief Medical Officer of Health of the Colombo Municipal Council Dr. Tissa Seneviratne said the Health Ministry has identified through surveys as the filaria belt the stretch form Negombo to Hambantota .

Health Department officials and voluntary health workers will go house to house and issue tablets to residents which are to be taken within 24 hours, he said.

The treatment given in tablet form will be repeated every six months for the next five years. Both adults and children will be given treatment.

Adults will be given three large tablets while children aged one to 12 will be given three small tablets, Dr. Seneviratne said. Pregnant mothers, acutely ill patients and children under one year will be exempted.

Colombo North and some areas in Colombo Central have already been covered. Other areas to be covered in Colombo Central are Slave Island, Wekanda, Hunupitiya, Suduwella, Panchikawatte, Maradana, Maligakande and Maligawatte West and East which will he visited on November 5.

Dematagoda, Wanathamulla, Kuppiyawatte East and West, Borella North and South and Cinnamon Gardens will also be covered on the 5th.

On November 12, Narahenpita, Kirula, Pamankada East and West, Kirulapone, Bambalapitiya, Milagiriya, Havelock town and Wellawatte North and South will be covered.

Dr. S. Liyanage of the Anti Filariasis Campaign said that filaria was endemic only in some parts of Wayamba . Kurunegala MOH area, Wariyapola, Pannala, Rideegama, Nikaweratiya, Dankotuwa, Chilaw, Arachikattuwa and Marawila are the areas would be covered in the North Western province.

Operations put off, but director says all's well

One of the five orthopaedic operating theatres at the National Hospital has not been functioning for the past four months owing to rain water leaks, hospital sources said.

They said this theatre had special features and equipment and at least 40 operations were conducted in it daily. With rain water leaks, the theatre had not been used for the past four months and little had been done to rectify the situation, they said.

But National Hospital Director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe denied the allegation. He said there was a hot water pipe leak which had been repaired quickly and all the theatres were functioning well.

But the sources said family members of patients had been told that operations had been postponed due to the closure of the theatre. Bed head tickets too showed that operations had been put off. According to hospital sources, some 150 operations had postponed for the past four days. The patients included Army casualties.

Telcom CEO leaving

Sri Lanka Telecom Chief Executive Officer Hideki Kamitsuma is quitting his post at the end of the year due to personal reasons, officials said yesterday.

They said Mr. Kamitsuma who has played a leading role in the restructuring of the giant Telecom company, conveyed his decision to the board at a meeting on Friday.

Mr. Kamitsuma took over as CEO in August 1997 when the Government signed the management agreement with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT).

NTT International Corporation's President and CEO, Satoru Hashimoto has been appointed the successor to Mr. Kamitsuma. Mr. Hashimoto is expected to be here next month.

IBA observer for case against CJ

Three fundamental rights cases challenging the appointment of the new Chief Justice will be heard by the Supreme Court for leave to proceed on November 5.

V. S. Malimath, a representative from the International Bar Association (IBA) will be present to observe the hearing at the behest of the IBA, the International Commission of Jurists and the Bar Council of England, an IBA spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the International Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, has also indicated that he is willing to make submission as amicus curai, if the petitioners apply to court asking that he be made amicus, especially to assist court on how similar matters are addressed in other jurisdictions.

The IBA observer, who has already informed court that he will be present as an observer when the case is taken up for hearing on the 5th, is a former Chief Justice of the Indian state of Kerala.

The three petitioner's who are challenging the appointment, have said in their petitions that their fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 12 (1) have been violated by the appointment of Sarath N Silva as chief justice. They are asking court to declare the appointment null and void and invalid in law, as they believe it was a wrong appointment and therefore void ab initio (void in the first instance.)

The earlier fundamental rights petition challenging the appointment of Justice Shirani Bandarnanaike was heard before a seven judge bench, and the petitioner's in the three cases to be heard on Friday have also asked for a full bench hearing in view of the constitutional and public importance of the matter under review.

UN group sees slow progress on disappearance probe

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

While Sri Lanka rates among the top three countries in the world for the most number of disappearances, a visiting member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances criticised the Government for its unfulfilled promises and discriminatory practices with regard to disappearances of thousands of people since the late 1980s.

Manfred Novark said a lot more needed to be done if the perpetrators responsible for thousands of disappearances since the late 80s are to be brought to justice and for this a more efficient, and independent investigation commission should be set up.

Mr. Novark said that although President Chandrika Kumaratunga had earlier agreed to establish an Independent Presidential Commission of Inquiry it had still not materialised. He also expressed concern over the delay in carrying out investigations and proceedings and the fact that very few people have so far been sentenced.

He said that while more than 12,000 families of disappeared persons had received compensation, public servants received as much as Rs. 150,000 in compensation while others had to contend with Rs. 50,000, and many were convinced that justice had not been done.

"This is discriminatory and I find it hard to understand the logic behind this," he said, adding that the compensation should be adjusted to be in line with today's living costs.

He also said more efforts should be made to ascertain how many of those reported disappeared were still to be found in detention centres around the country, instead of presuming them dead.

Mr. Novark said much had been done with regard to the problem of disappearances by the present government than the earlier government and that the number of disappearances had reduced noticeably.

But he said not enough had been done to publicise the results of the investigations.

He also said the government had shown more interest in investigating the disappearances that occurred during the term of the previous government than those which occurred during its term.

The former Yugoslavia and Iraq are the countries ranked above Sri Lanka for disappearances with 25,000 and 16,000 cases.

The two member team comprising Mr. Novark and Miguel de la Lama met Justice Minister G.L. Peiris and Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, service chiefs and the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission among others.

Burns unit for Lanka with German aid

By Faraza Farook

The German Help Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health has decided to set up a Burns Unit at Kurunegala to train local surgeons to perform plastic surgery.

The 200 bed unit will be provided with all the equipment by the German Help Foundation with the help of German NGOs.

The hospital will be named 'Burns Unit of Interplast Germany' and will specialise in screening and performing all types of plastic surgery.

According to a spokesman of the Foundation, the unit will be set up close to the Kurunegala Hospital. Officials are of the view that Kurunegala is centrally situated and easy to reach from many parts of the country.

A German surgeon will be resident at putting up the unit while there will also be visiting teams.

As soon as the Health Ministry completes the building, the German Help Foundation will equip the Unit.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people suffering from burn scars and cleft lips and palates from all over the country are flocking to hospitals in the North Western Province to register themselves for free plastic surgery.

In a project organised by the German Help Foundation and Interplast Germany-an NGO-a team of eight German doctors arriving in Sri Lanka tomorrow will perform surgeries free at the Marawila hospital for two weeks. Screening of patients will be done in the afternoon at the Marawila hospital before starting on surgeries on Tuesday.

Local doctors have already begun preliminary selections of patients before they are put for the final screening to be done by the German team. More than 300 patients have reported at the Marawila, Chilaw and Puttalam hospitals.

People suffering from cleft lips, cleft palates, scars, congenital deformities and crippling deformities caused by burns from bottle lamp accidents, explosions and fires will be lucky enough to get the surgery done free of charge.

It was reported at a press conference last Thursday that a large number of patients in the North Western province suffer from bottle lamp burn injuries. Unawareness and lack of public health education were cited as the main cause for the rising number of bottle lamp victims. The use of synthetic fabrics which are very prone to catching fire was also a reason.

However, it is hoped that at least 200 surgeries can be done during the two week stay by the German team. With a plastic surgery costing roughly at least Rs. 500,000, the German Help Foundation is aimed at providing their service mainly to poor patients.

Owing to the lack of sophisticated equipment, many of these surgeries are not performed in Sri Lanka. As a result there is a backlog of patients who are in need of plastic surgery, DMO of the Marawila Hospital Dr. J.M. Gunathillake said.

However, the visiting team is said to be bringing with them all the necessary equipment to successfully perform the surgeries during their stay here.

Population control affected by dwindling funds, says UN

Reproductive health programmes supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are facing dangerous cutbacks due to a four-year decline in donor contributions, according to a statement issued by the UN body.

The available resources for 1999 will cover only two thirds of the fund's commitment to its programmes. There is a US$ 72 million shortfall that could lead to an additional one million unwanted pregnancies, 570,000 induced abortions and over 670,000 unwanted births, the UNFPA has said.

"It is ironic and tragic that a shortage of funds is tying our hands now," says the UNFPA Executive Director.

UNFPA expects its general income this year to be US$ 248 million, US$ 29 million less than in 1998. This significant decline is due to the loss of funding from the US, which provided US $ 20 million last year.

The shortfall will also impair efforts to curb sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS and to curtail harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation.

Tanzania, Burundi, Morocco, Algeria, Haiti, Vietnam and Ecuador are some of the countries that will be affected by this.

India's plans to provide delivery facilities, to establish an emergency obstetric care system and provide subsidized contraceptives to men and women in rural areas have been suspended.

However, Sri Lanka will not be affected, as the cycle will go on till end of 2000, a UN official in Colombo said.

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