Little traction in assassination allegation in Sri lanka

The IGP has demonstrated on several occasions that he is somewhat of a joker (morning meditation for policemen, showing perahera participants how to dance) has been attacked by the JO but defended by the UNP.

by Manik de Silva- Sep 23, 2018

( September 23, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) President Maithripala Sirisena left for New York yesterday to attend the UN General Assembly sessions which customarily attracts leaders from small and big countries all over the world without any major developments in the explosive story published some days ago about an alleged attempt by a senior police officer heading the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) to assassinate both the president and former Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The story failed to gain the traction that such sensational allegations could normally be expected to do, probably because of the credibility (or the lack of it) of the person making the allegation. Whether anything more concrete will emerge by the time the president returns from the U.S. remain to be seen.

The first official reaction was at best lukewarm with law enforcers showing little interest in arresting DIG Nalaka Silva, the alleged perpetrator of the conspiracy. He was later transferred out of the TID to a less sensitive department in the police before he was sent on compulsory leave, probably at the behest of higher authorities. According to what veteran leftist MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara told parliament, the DIG was a close associate of the IGP who had recently accompanied him to a Bodhi Pooja at the Kelaniya temple.

Whistle blower Namal Kumara was a paid police informant doubling as an anti corruption activist. He summoned a press conference in Kandy where he played what he claimed were recordings of telephone conversations between the DIG and himself. Transcripts of these, or excerpts thereof, have been published in various media. It appeared the voice clips were of recordings of a conversation (or conversations) between a policeman and his informant with nothing direct on an assassination plot. That a senior police officer would tell a stool pigeon such dark secrets as these would seem incredible to most people. There had been no official word at the time of writing whether CID investigators assigned to the case have established whether the recordings are authentic although expertise of the Government Analyst’s Department and the Moratuwa University had been reportedly sought. It is fairly well known that the DIG, though close to the IGP, is not very popular among his senior colleagues with allegations made some time ago that the phones of some senior cops had been tapped by an agency under him.

If the assassination story is true, it is interesting that the targets were the president and the former defense secretary both of whom are considered likely runners at the next presidential race. Although Sirisena went on record in the first speech he made at Independence Square after taking his oath of office that he will not run for a second term, he seems to have changed his mind. While he has not directly announced his candidature, various proxies from the SLFP he leads have said that he will run and he has not denied such claims choosing to maintain an eloquent silence. There have been many attempts by personages from the Sirisena faction of the SLFP to mend fences with the Joint Opposition and possibly make some kind of deal. The possible contenders in the big race at the end of next year are all playing their hands close to their chests. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, like the president, has not declared his candidature though his loyalists have said he will be the green candidate. The former president who is pushing for an early election said as recently as yesterday that his party must decide on a candidate and one of his brothers might seek the ticket.

The IGP has demonstrated on several occasions that he is somewhat of a joker (morning meditation for policemen, showing perahera participants how to dance) has been attacked by the JO but defended by the UNP. The greens called a press conference at Sri Kotha on Friday where Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara and his deputy defended the IGP’s work record. Yesterday’s The Island encapsulated what was said there neatly with the front page headline “IGP not so bad though he ‘danced’ a bit.” While the CID is investigating the assassination allegation, the IGP’s conduct is being examined by a committee of officials from the Ministries of Public Administration and Management and Law and Order. These portfolios are under the UNP. Only the blind will be oblivious to the shadow boxing now going on between the president and his prime minister. Sirisena seems to have forgotten that it was the UNP that made it possible for him to be elected president. Ranil Wickremesinghe seems to be ignoring the reality that he could not have won the race himself and a common candidate was essential to topple Mahinda Rajapaksa. There is no effort at even sustaining a façade of unity at least until the election with the partners of the ruling coalition openly undermining each other. That will no neither side any good.

Manik de Silva is the editor of the Sunday Island, a Colombo based weekly newspaper where this piece first appeared as an editorial