News
Ranil’s case: CID team heads to UK, bypassing AG
View(s):- Objective: verify authenticity of Wolverhampton University invitation to former president; AG’s dept kept in the dark
By Ranjith Padmasiri
A five-member Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team has left for the UK to probe the authenticity of the invitation letter allegedly sent by the University of Wolverhampton to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, but the visit has gone ahead without informing or the instructions of the Attorney General.
The Sunday Times learns that the Attorney General’s Department had been kept in the dark regarding the CID team’s UK visit, and no instructions from the AG had been sought by senior CID officers in charge of the probe prior to the team’s departure.
The team, led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and including an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), a Chief Inspector (CI) and two junior officers, flew to the UK earlier this week on a five-day visit.
AG’s Department sources disclosed that those at the senior-most levels of the Department, including AG Parinda Ranasinghe, Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris and Deputy Solicitor General Wasantha Perera, were unaware that a CID was being sent to the UK. The sources added that the CID had decided on sending this team independently without informing the AG’s Department.
The CID team is to record a statement from former Sri Lankan High Commissioner in the UK Saroja Sirisena tomorrow. Ms Sirisena was the High Commissioner to the UK in September 2023, when Mr Wickremesinghe, who was president at the time, visited the country to attend the graduation ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton, where his wife, Prof. Maithree Wickremasinghe, was accorded an honorary professorship.
Ms Sirisena, who still resides in the UK, has been asked to be present at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to give a statement there.
Mr Wickremesinghe has been charged with misusing public funds amounting to Rs. 16.6 million during the two-day visit, which the CID says is a private visit. He was arrested in August this year over the incident and was briefly remanded in custody before being released on bail.
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