President Maithripala Sirisena has expressed his displeasure to Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera over the arrest and subsequent remanding of the former Commandant of the Police Special Task Force (STF), K.L.N. Sarathchandra.

Mr. Sarathchandra, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), was arrested and produced before Colombo’s Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya. He was remanded till December 6 for allegedly misusing an STF vehicle. The reported loss to the state over this alleged misuse is said to be Rs. 140,000.

The move follows an inquiry Mr. Jayasundera had ordered the Special Crimes Investigation Unit (SCIU), which comes directly under the Police Chief. This is said to follow a complaint made to him by a senior serving officer of the STF.

Sources close to the Presidency said the President wanted to know why only this retired officer was singled out for arrest and subsequent remand when there were several cases of grave misuse of vehicles in the Police Department. He has also wanted to know whether the incident was motivated by personal reasons.

The same sources said Public Security and Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake had also been unaware of the arrest. He has also sought details on how it came about. Even the Attorney General’s Department had not been informed.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, President Sirisena was critical of investigative agencies including the Police for the slow pace of high profile cases. He noted that smaller cases like the abuse of vehicles were being pursued.

Courtesy:Sunday Times