HICORP Director refused bail

Sarath MALALASEKERA

Colombo Fort Magistrate and Additional District Judge Ms. Lanka Jayaratne yesterday refused an application for bail in respect of Wellington Dehoedt, a director of HICORP (Pvt) Limited, who had been remanded in connection with an alleged arms deal and further remanded till February 17. Earlier the Judge in a lengthy order said that the CID has a right to submit a confidential report to court in connection with their investigations.

Citing several authorities including Section 123 and 162 the Judge also said that the defence has no right to peruse the confidential documents submitted to court by the CID. CID Chief Inspector Mohan Siriwardena who appeared for the prosecution vehemently objected to the suspect director being released on bail. The CID said that the investigations into the alleged arms deal had not been completed.

Chief Inspector Siriwardena also said the suspect director had forwarded several forged documents to the Army authorities to obtain the contract for his company. The CID will submit a comprehensive report in connection with their ongoing investigations to court on the next date. Senior Defence Counsel Asoka Weerasooriya with A.S.M. Bisma, Jayantha Nanayakkara and Siraz Noordeen instructed by Rohith Rajapaksa appeared for the suspect director. The case will be called again on February 17.