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| Wednesday, 26 May 2004 |
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| Rs. 2 billion roofing sheet scam : Ravi K to be quizzed by Sarath Malalasekera and Asanga Warnakulasuriya Colombo District Parliamentarian and former Minister Ravi Karunanayake is to be questioned this week by the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) in the course of their investigations into the Rs. 2 billion roofing sheet scam. "We are hoping to question him tomorrow" a high ranking CCD official told the Daily News yesterday. According to preliminary investigations conducted by the CCD, over 3,000 roofing sheets handed over to MP Karunanayake to be distributed among low income families are alleged to have been sold to a hardware dealer. A UNP member of the Kotte Municipal Council had already been taken into custody for questioning in this connection. The roofing sheets were imported from India to be distributed among low income families through the District Secretaries, but in the run up to the last General Election, these were illegally used as inducements by several UNP candidates to obtain votes which also led to massive fraud. As a result, over Rs. 2 billion worth roofing sheets instead of going to the poor, had found their way into the hands of hardware dealers despite the "not for sale" markings on them. Detectives investigating the countrywide aluminium roofing sheets fraud carried out by UNP MPs and Pradeshiya Sabha Chairmen estimate the fraud in the illegal sale of public property to be a colossal Rs. 2 billion. The roofing sheets earmarked for distribution among 128,000 poor families were imported from India by the Government and handed over to UNP MPs and Pradeshiya Sabha Chairmen but a large part of it had been surreptitiously sold to hardware dealers. Former Colombo district UNP MP Lilantha Perera has already been remanded for alleged possession and sale of aluminium sheets, till May 27. This was after the CCD revealed that 986 roofing sheets had been sold to a Killinochchi trader. Police also have to recover 7,884 aluminum sheets sold to outsiders. Lilantha Perera is among a number of UNP MPs and Pradeshiya Sabha members under investigation for the alleged fraudulent disposal of aluminium roofing sheets to traders. Four other suspects who allegedly purchased the aluminium sheets strictly not for sale from Perera, were earlier taken into custody by the CCD and produced before Court. S. Pillai Shanmugam, Mohamed Hussain Faroos Jaufer and R. Gnanasekeram were further remanded till May 27 while Kariappa Sivakumar was released on bail. CCD also recorded a statement of former Western Province Regional Development UNP Minister M. H. Mohammed. Police are also looking for a close associate of the former UNP MP who allegedly carried out the transaction of selling the roofing sheets to the market. In another case, CCD officials arrested Jayantha Bandara and Abdul Mohamed Nazar who allegedly misappropriated the roofing sheets. Produced before Colombo Additional Magistrate Ranjan Dissanayake, they were granted cash bail in sums of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 25,000 each with two sureties. Investigations also revealed that 7,510 sheets had been recovered from a businessman in Colombo who allegedly purchased the sheets from the former UNP MP. Several hardware stores and warehouses in Colombo district have been raided by CCD officials to trace the roofing sheets sold to outsiders. CCD officials had also questioned several transport firms in connection with the sale of roofing sheets. CCD Director Senior SP Sarath Lugoda assisted by ASP Palitha Fernando, Inspector Nuwan Wedasinghe and SI Rajapaksa are conducting investigations. |
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