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| Ratwatte
CDs: Sting Op. by CID By Tania Fernando
In the latest political bombshell, the CID is claiming it has found about Rs. 43 million worth of certificates of deposits allegedly belonging to the Ratwatte family in safe deposit vaults of a private bank, but the ex minister is claiming it is part of a malicious campaign while the bank is apparently playing safe. The scene of this week's big news story was the Hatton National Bank at Kollupitiya. CID detectives claim the safe deposit vaults were in the names of Mr. Ratwatte, his wife Ramani and her son. It began when CID detectives, armed with a warrant to search the vaults on allegations that drugs and firearms were hidden in them entered the head office building of the Hatton National Bank (HNB) in Kollupitiya. Bank officers quickly informed Ramani Ratwatte who in turn alerted her husband in Parliament before she rushed to the bank followed by Mr. Ratwatte.
As an agitated
Mr. Ratwatte entered he was apparently disturbed over the presence
of a photo journalist and he was seen giving some orders to his
body guards who told the photographer that their boss was on private
business and it was none of their business. In the bank CID detectives and Mr. Ratwatte argued over the search with the ex strongman insisting that if the warrant was to search for drugs and weapons the CID could not check the certificates of deposits. After checking one of the vaults where they reportedly found certificates of deposits, the CID officers appeared to be uncertain and decided to go for further legal consultations but they sealed the vaults before leaving. The detectives left the bank around 3.p.m. on Wednesday but Mr. Ratwatte who was at a crisis meeting with a senior officer of the bank stayed on for another hour, eye witnesses said.
The vehicle he arrived in was parked outside the bank while he took off in another vehicle belonging to a bank officer apparently to avoid The Sunday Times photographer outside the bank. HNB Managing Director Rienzie Wijetilake said a representative of the bank was present when the vault was opened and nothing illegal was found. Mr. Wijetillake said he was not aware as to whose vehicle had been used for Mr. Ratwatte to leave the premises. "There are 80 vehicles belonging to the bank and I cant ask all of them whether Mr. Ratwatte used any of their vehicles," he said. Mr. Ratwatte giving his side of the story said he had received a call from his wife when he was in Parliament informing him that the CID had gone to the bank with a search warrant. "I asked my wife to show them what was in the lockers, but insisted that they could not go through any of the documents. I then called the CID, and I was told that a search warrant was issued on allegations that drugs and small arms might have been hidden. I rushed to the bank and since the court order did not permit them to look at documents, I objected when they tried to do it," Mr. Ratwatte said. On Thursday the CID obtained another search warrant from Colombo's Chief Magistrate giving them authority to search the other vaults. Detectives claimed they found Rs. 11.6 million worth of Certificate of Deposits in the locker.
Mr. Ratwatte said that when the CID informed him that they had obtained a fresh warrant to search the lockers, he had given them permission and was there at the time of the search. "When I questioned the CID officials, they said that they had not found anything illegal in the lockers," he claimed. General Ratwatte who led the war effort for seven years under President Chandrika Kumaratunga said it seemed to him it was more than a coincidence that he was arrested over the Pallethalawinna massacre when the government and the LTTE were signing the ceasefire agreement and now he was being attacked again when the ban on the LTTE was about to be lifted. CID officials said they would give a full report to the Colombo Chief Magistrate on Tuesday.
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