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Trincomalee tsunami aid abuse :
Army finds missing generators under pile of firewood
TRINCOMALEE group correspondent
TWELVE of the 37 power generators gifted by India as
tsunami assistance, reported missing from the Trincomalee Kachcheri,
were recovered on Saturday by the Army under a pile of firewood behind
the Kachcheri premises.
According to sources, a group of soldiers looking for
firewood had stumbled on the generators during the search.
They had immediately reported the discovery to the
Trincomalee police who took custody of the generators.
According to an Army spokesman when the soldiers had
scoured the same spot for firewood two days previously, the generators
had not been there.
"The suspects may have panicked and hidden the
generators under the firewood feeling safe they would escape detection,"
he added.
Trincomalee police have already arrested an Assistant
Lands Commissioner of the Trincomalee District Secretariat regarding the
alleged disappearance of the 37 generators.
The generators shipped from India after the tsunami
disaster had been kept at the Lands Office of the District Secretariat
under the care of the Assistant Lands Commissioner.
Although an order had been issued to arrest the
Assistant Commissioner following investigations by Trincomalee police
headquarters, the suspect was evading arrest since February 25, police
said.
However, following a tip-off received by police he was
arrested on Wednesday by a group led by IP Lalith Gunasinghe, and
produced before the Trincomalee Magistrate the same day. The case is due
to come up before the Trincomalee Magistrate's Court today. |
