Foreign travel restriction on Gota

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Navy Commander Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake and two others had been ordered not to travel abroad by the Galle Magistrate yesterday, the Police said.

The Magistrate ordered that the restriction order be sent to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration immediately.

Police Spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said, the other two persons, who were ordered not to leave the country were the Director of the Rakna Arakshaka Lanka (Pvt.) Limited, Major General (Rtd) K. B. Egodawela and Manjula Yapa, the Managing Director of Avant Garde Security Services (Pvt.) Limited. The Galle Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura gave the order considering the request made by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) asking to restrict them leaving the country to facilitate the investigation on the floating armoury of Avant-Garde at the Galle Harbour. The Magistrate ordered that the restriction order be sent to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration immediately. The Magistrate had also ordered the bank account details of the Avant Garde Directors when the CID produced the facts to the Court.

ASP Gunasekara said the CID informed court on Monday that the former Navy Commander had acted as a consultant to the Avant Garde Security Services. The Police seized a large cache of weapons inside 12 containers on a ship docked at the Galle Harbour on January 18. Investigations revealed that the weapons belonged to Avant-Garde.

Earlier, Colombo Chief Magistrate restricted Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi from leaving the country until the investigations in connection with this are completed. The CID had recorded the statement from Mr. Gotabaya at his residence over the Rakhna Lanka