Trainee teacher held for bribe

Sandasen Marasinghe

Colombo High Court Judge Kumuduni Wickramasinghe yesterday granted bail to two persons including a trainee teacher who allegedly obtained an inducement of Rs 46,000 promising to secure a volunteer teacher post for another party.

The court granted bail of Rs 20,000 and two Rs 600,000 surety bails to trainee teacher D.P.Y. Karunaratne of Dehiattakandiya and Edirisinghege Karunasena of Hingurakanda Katuwana.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption filed the indictment against Karunaratne for allegedly demanding and accepting Rs 46,000 on three occasions in 2005 from Wijethunga Gamage Amarapala to support him to find a volunteer teacher post in a Government school for his daughter W.G. Swarnathilaka.

According to the indictment Karunasena had aided and abetted Karunaratne to commit the crime.

W.G. Amarapala (63) of Mahawanawela, Dehiattakandiya in his statement to the Bribery Commission stated that his daughter worked as a volunteer teacher at the Ridee Ela Primary College from 2001 to 2003. But she could not sit for the confirmation test since the applications were called from the volunteer teachers before 2000.

Karunaratne who was a trainee teacher at Giragama Teacher Training School, Pilimatalawa denied Bribery Commission allegations against him.