FCID faces leadership crisis

May 5, 2018, 7:46 pm 

The head of the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) reaches the mandatory retirement age of 60 next week with attempts to extend his services despite legal obstacles, official sources said.

Senior Deputy Inspector-General Ravi Waidyalankara submitted his papers to retire on his 60th birthday on May 14, but there were moves to grant an extension, officials said.

Inspector-General Pujith Jayasundara last month wrote to the Police Commission recommending that Waidyalankara’s retirement be accepted as there was no provision to grant him an extension.

Two senior officers had bene given extensions beyond the mandatory retirement age, but both had unblemished service records.

They are Deputy Inspector-General S. W. Wickremasinghe of Prime Minister’s security unit and Senior Superintendent R. P. Jayatillaka of the President’s security.

Both were re-employed on contract basis for one year.

However, IGP Jayasundara told the Police Commission that in Waidyalankara’s case there were two pending investigations against him — one by the SIU or the Special Investigation Unit and the other by the Bribery Commission (CIABOC).

The Commission has also been told that four senior officers had bene denied service extensions recently because they were still facing disciplinary inquiries at the time of reaching the mandatory retirement age.

Senior DIG Waidyalankara was the head of the FCID from its inception and is regarded as a capable officer. However, making an exception and extending his services could set a precedent for others in similar circumstances.

The FCID has been investigating a large number of high profile corruption cases.