Ret. Maj. Gen arrested on false claim of murder, treasure hunting released

IGP and HRC urged to conduct probe

- SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO

Retired Major General Kithsiri Ekanayake has called upon IGP Weerasooriya to inquire into the circumstances under which the Beliatta police arrested him in late August on a murder charge, in addition to implicating him on digging for treasure, in his own land, in the Beliatta police area.

Ekanayake has also complained to the Human Rights Commission (HRC), as well as the Police Ombudsman, in this regard.

Ekanayake, who served the Army for 36 years, before retiring in February 2021, said that he still found it hard to believe that the police arrested him on a claim made by a 14-year-old boy of seeing four or five persons taking a woman to the land owned by him and cutting her head off while a ritual was taking place.

Responding to The Island queries, the retired officer said that he obtained necessary approvals from relevant authorities to establish an agrivoltaics project meant to use land, simultaneously, for both solar energy generation and agriculture. “In fact, before we conducted ‘pooja’ to seek blessings, I contacted the OIC of the Beliatta Police Station, over the phone, as he was not present at the station at the time I visited,” the SLLI retired officer said.