When watchdogs go deaf and blind

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have been in overdrive, probing and prosecuting Opposition politicians and their family members— and rightly so.

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Several former ministers are already behind bars. It is being argued in some quarters that the culture of impunity has come to an end under the incumbent dispensation. This, we believe, is an overstatement. The CIABOC and the police acted very efficiently under the previous governments as well when complaints were made against the then Opposition politicians.

The CIABOC and the police including the CID stand accused of dragging their feet on complaints against government politicians and their associates. The fact that they lack their typical high-octane performance when suspects happen to be ruling party politicians is borne out by the manner in which the national anti-graft commission is handling a complaint an Opposition politician has made against a government minister over his alleged involvement in having as many as 323 freight containers including red-flagged ones released without Customs inspection from the Colombo Port in January 2025.