The Police Inspector attached to the Polonnaruwa Police was arrested and has been remanded by order of the Anuradhapura Magistrate on May 04 for attempting to transfer 14 police officers by sending a forged document with the signature of the President’s Chief of Staff and State Security Adviser Mr. Sagala Ratnayake’s official seal and letterhead from the President’s Office to the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the North Central Provinces.
A 55-year-old police inspector who is a resident of Polonnaruwa New Town has been remanded in custody.
Investigations have revealed that this police inspector has been working in Kandakadu and he has recently received a transfer to Polonnaruwa by forging a letter as a reference by Mr. Sagala Ratnayake and sending it to the Deputy Inspector General of North Central.
Mr. Rajitha Sri Daminda, Senior Deputy Inspector General of North Central Province, received the letter with the names of 14 police officers and the signature of Mr. Sagala Ratnayake on the letterhead of the President’s Office to transfer those officers from their current positions to other positions by registered post two or three weeks ago.
It is mentioned in this letter that an investigation is going on regarding a petition received regarding the concerned officials, so they should be transferred to other stations.
Due to the lack of information like What are the allegations against those officers in that letter? What is the department under investigation? etc… and the fact that the letter was sent directly by registered mail without being addressed by the Inspector General, the Senior Deputy Inspector General decided to make some confirmation regarding this letter. For that, he is seeking support from the police officer who was Mr. Sagala Ratnayake’s main bodyguard. He sent the letter through WhatsApp and ask him to find out whether Mr. Sagala Ratnayake has sent such a letter and let him know.
Accordingly, during the investigation conducted by the officer, it has been confirmed that Mr. Sagala Ratnayake has not sent or issued such a letter. After the security officer informed Mr. Sagala Ratnayake about this, Mr. Sagala Ratnayake informed the Inspector General of Police to conduct an investigation in this regard.
After Inspector General assigned the investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department, the missing persons investigation section of the Criminal Investigation Department has started an investigation by recording statements from the Senior Deputy Inspector General of North Central.
The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed that the letter in the name of Mr. Sagala Ratnayake was mailed from Colombo by the seals on the cover, and upon inspection at the relevant post office, it was revealed that not only one letter, but two letters were mailed by registered post in the name of the President’s Office. In that letter, 14 officers have been ordered to be transferred to the Senior Deputy Inspector General of North Central. It is stated that all those 14 officers are working in the Polonnaruwa Police Division.
The second letter is addressed to the DIG in charge of North Central District. On checking whether such a letter has been received by the DIG, it is revealed that the DIG also received the letter on the same day as the letter was received by the Senior DIG. The letter bearing Mr. Sagala Ratnayake’s signature and official seal on the letterhead of the President’s Office informed the Deputy Inspector General of Police to transfer a police inspector working in Kandakadu to the Polonnaruwa Police Station. Acting on that letter, the Deputy Inspector General of Police had also transferred the relevant Inspector from Kandakadu to Polonnaruwa. A special thing is that a reply letter has also been sent to Mr. Sagala Ratnayake stating that the relevant order has been implemented.
During a lengthy investigation regarding these two letters, it appears that the police inspector who got a transfer from Kandakadu to Polonnaruwa had prepared these two fake letters. Even during the technical investigation in that regard, it was revealed that he was in Colombo at the time of posting. Accordingly, the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department have arrested this officer.
Police information reveals that the list of 14 people who are to be transferred is a group of officers who are not on good terms with this officer.
Due to this misconduct by this officer, the police chiefs had even taken the necessary steps to suspend him from work yesterday.