Karunasena in trouble due to Karunaratne’s confession!

Nov 26, 2015

Incumbent defence secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi is in big trouble due to a confession made by one Janaka Mendis Karunaratne, the suspect in case no. 2292/14 that was taken up at the Mt. Lavinia magistrate’s court last Friday, 20th of November. Following a complaint made to the CID by the director general of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board at Ratmalana, Karunaratne was arrested in October 2014 on a charge of misuse of state money and remanded, but is now released on bail.

There is a confession made by him to the CID attached with the ‘B’ report of this case, which says an advance of Rs. 21.4 million had been paid for selling a 5.5 acre land called Kanatte Watte at Gintota in Galle district, to the NWSDB for a water purification project. It was Hettiarachchi, as the then chairman of the NWSDB, who had approved the payment.

 

The suspect says in the confession that out that sum, he had given Rs. 17.5 million back to Hettiarachchi.

 

We tried several times to reach Hettiarachchi to obtain a response, but were unsuccessful. He has sent a message to us through a friend of his that it was not him, but the NWSDB’s auditor, who should be responsible for the deal. He says it was not his responsibility to ascertain as to whether the deed of the land was authentic or not, and the audit and legal units of the NWSDB should bear the total responsibility.

 

If Hettiarachchi sends us a detailed response, we will publish it without harming the original article.