Elephant importation, land sale rackets!

Oct 29, 2017

An elephant was imported from Burma in 2007 for Dalada Maligawa by concealing its actual worth, and mentioning Rs. 261,592,500 as its price in the invoice (no. 97382) and taken the money out of the country, according to a Customs receipt. 

This was stated by retired Supreme Court judge Nimal E. Dissanayake in a one-man committee investigation. The open market price of an elephant is between Rs. one million and Rs. 1.5 million only. The person at the Dalada Maligawa responsible has committed an offence punishable under the foreign exchange and customs regulations and the penal code, the committee notes.

 

Its report handed over to president Maithripala Sirisena and dated 25.05.2016 recommends action against the persons responsible.

 

Meanwhile, a nine-acre Dalada Maligawa owned land named Udawatte and Malnaidege Hena had been sold for Rs. 92,870,000 by two deeds, says a complaint lodged with the attorney general. According to the temporalities ordinance, the land can be sold, but the deeds should mention the land as being hereditary and that the buyers are subjected to serving the Dalada Maligawa. But, the Diyawadana Nilame has signed the deeds after concerning all those.

 

Furthermore, only Rs. 730,000 had been credited to the Dalada Maligawa accounts. In report B 34983/2015 dated 29.05.2015, the AG has reported about this to the Kandy magistrate’s court.

 

The CID is to investigate these frauds, says CID sources.