News
CID to unravel Kataragama property ownership denied by Gotabaya
View(s):By Dilushi Wijesinghe
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is trying to figure out the ownership of the two-storey building located within the Menik Ganga reservation in Monaragala.
The building is reportedly in the name of a G. Rajapaksa–and former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has denied ownership.
The investigation comes amid long-standing questions over how such a large structure was built in an environmentally sensitive zone.
The two-storey building located within the Menik Ganga reservation in Monaragala. Pic by Athkadure Janath
The construction, which began in 2007, drew the attention of multiple state agencies after a complaint was filed with the CID. Following this, the Attorney General’s Department instructed the Monaragala Irrigation Department to take over the site.
In a Facebook post, Gotabaya Rajapaksa denied any ownership. “I wish to strongly declare that the said building near the Menik Ganga in Kataragama is not my property. I must also state that I have never had any reason or desire to construct or maintain any building in the Kataragama area.
“A CID investigation was conducted in the past regarding the ownership of the said building. I also gave a statement as part of that investigation. The reason for my name being brought up in this matter was due to an application submitted for obtaining an electricity connection to the said building under the name ‘G. Rajapaksha’. However, this application did not contain a proper signature. Instead of a signature, there was an unclear scribble where a signature should have been,” the post continued.
A senior official of the Monaragala Irrigation Department confirmed that the building, which consists of 12 large rooms and is “larger in scale than a regular house”, was recently taken over by the department.
“We intend to use it as a circuit bungalow for officers visiting from other irrigation divisions,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police sources confirmed that the CID is making inquiries into the legality of the construction, its original purpose, and those responsible for initiating it.
The first to be arrested over this mystery was the Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha’s former chairman, Asoka Wickremasinghe, who was taken in by the CID early this year on charges of forging documents related to the construction.
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