Pepiliyana case compounded:

PARTIES SEVERELY WARNED

* Magistrate says persons in robes will not be treated leniently

* ‘Religion’ not the cause for incident

Shiromi Abeysinghe

Nugogoda Magistrate Ajith. M. Masinghe yesterday compounded the case in the Pepiliyana incident following mutual agreement reached between the parties involved, and released 17 suspects after severely warning them.

The suspects were severely warned and released as both parties agreed to settle the issue when the case was taken up at the Nugegoda Magistrate’s court yesterday. The Magistrate noted that Buddhist monks should promote peace and harmony in society in keeping with the Buddha’s teachings instead of creating unnecessary problems.

The Magistrate stated that he will not take a conciliatory approach concerning persons in robes, if they are involved in incidents of this nature in the future.

The Magistrate noted that he took this decision after taking into account the submissions made by Deputy Inspector General Anura Senanayake and the lawyers. DIG Senanayake told court that this incident did not have any connection with religion. He informed the court that the incident was related to a love affair and the suspect in this connection is in remand custody. DIG Senanayake insisted that this type of incidents should not happen in the future.

He told court that the Buddhist monks involved in the incidents were not arrested by the Police but they surrendered to the Police on the request of the Mahanayake Theras. Attorney-at- Law Wasantha Ranasinghe and Nalinda Indratissa who appeared for the complainant praised the efforts of the Police officers led by Deputy Inspector General Anura Senanayake to quell the situation at Pepiliyana. The identification parade which was scheduled to be held yesterday was not held as the case was compounded by mutual agreement.