Police sergeant granted bail

Two suspects including a police sergeant attached to the Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau who were in remand custody for allegedly being involved in an extortion case amounting to Rs.6 million after detaining a person while posing as security officers of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa were released on bail by a Colombo Court yesterday.

When police sergeant Chinthaka Hemachandra and Mohammed Sakeer Hussain, a civilian, were produced before Colombo Fort Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne, they were ordered to be released under strict bail conditions by ordering on furnishing a cash bail of Rs.400,000 and four sureties of two million rupees on each.

Lodging a complaint with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Mohammed Roshan of Madurankuliya complained that his brother Mohammed Rizvi had been taken into custody by a group of people who introduced themselves as the security officers of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The complainant alleged that the suspects had demanded Rs.10 million for the release of his brother and he paid them Rs.6 million.

At a previous magisterial inquiry, two other police officers who were allegedly involved in the incident were released on bail.

They were ordered to be released under strict bail conditions on furnishing a cash bail of Rs.400,000 and four sureties of two million rupee on each