Former CID Director SSP Shani Abeyesekara, Sub Inspector Sugath Mendis, and Nishantha Silva were today discharged from the Gampaha Magistrate’s Court proceedings.
The Colombo Crimes Division objected to the discharge despite the Attorney General’s advice.
However, following submissions made by counsel on behalf of Abeysekara and the other suspects, Gampaha Magistrate Shilani Perera discharged all four suspects.
The two police officers were arrested and remanded for 11 months in connection with allegations that they had planted weapons in certain premises to frame former DIG Vaas-Gunawardena, who was convicted along with his son and four others by a trial-at-bar for murdering millionaire businessman Mohomed Shyam.
The arrest came right after the 2019 presidential election, with the new regime in power, and was viewed as a witch hunt against the former director. After 11 months on remand, the Court of Appeal granted bail to both, stating that the entire case was a fabrication.
However, despite the Court of Appeal’s judgment, Gampaha Magistrate Manjula Karunarathna refused to discharge the accused from proceedings, and accordingly, the case continued in the Gampaha Magistrates ourt. However, the Attorney General had advised that the accused be discharged from the proceedings.
