Helen Meegasmulla the recently appointed Commissioner of Excise Department of Sri Lanka has urged all those who have been victimized by officers of the Excise Department in the recent past to bring forth their cases to her in person.
Helen Meegasmulla
When Commissioner Meegasmulla was informed that several victims had contacted Colombo Telegraph after it published the story “Excise Department Scam: Victimized Parents In Fear As Children Used For Ransom” she said: “Please do inform all victims to personally visit me with their cases and I will ensure that each and every one of them are investigated further. I also understand that some parents may be worried that they will be further victimized for coming forward. I would assure them of confidentiality and also protection if needed.”
Meegasmulla further went on to say “It has been brought to my notice that there have been several cases where officers serving under me now have been extorting huge sums of ransom monies from parents of youth whom they have apprehended. I recently visited many branches where these alleged officers are stationed and have given them stern instructions that this type of reported behaviour must be stopped immediately.”
A parent victim contacting Colombo Telegraph after reading our published story confirmed that he was forced to pay Rs one million to officer Chaminda at the Park Lane office in Borella. This was after an initial amount of 15 lakhs was demanded.
Thilak Dissanayake
“Excise Officer Chaminda on several occasions kept calling his superior Inspector Thilak Dissanayake and was obtaining instructions on the payment of ransom monies. He then went on to say that Inspector Dissanayake had instructed Rs 10 lakhs to be paid as a final sum if not my son will be going to jail” he said.
In an earlier reported incident another parent victim submitted telephone voice recorded conversations to Colombo Telegraph of Inspector Thilak Dissanayake demanding ransom money. The authenticity of his voice in the recordings was confirmed by a reliable source employed within the Excise Department.
Meanwhile shortly after Colombo Telegraph exposed this story, Inspector Thilak Dissanayake deleted his pictures and profile details from his Facebook account. (By Jacqueline Senanayake)
Nimal / October 16, 2017
.”…have given them stern instructions that this type of reported behaviour must be stopped immediately'”
We have heard this several times for several cases.
We want to see them punished through the court procedure as well as departmental inquiry immediately. .
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Pasel / October 16, 2017
Wow about time they are taking action !
how many years these ransom business is going on.
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justice / October 16, 2017
All these days, police were number one corrupt department.
Now, excise appear to be second, trying to become first.
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Emil van der Poorten / October 16, 2017
I can only hope that this (brave) lady is allowed to do her job and that this Yahapalanaya government does not strong-arm her into pushing all the emerging garbage under the carpet.
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Taraki / October 16, 2017
I give her three months. Once she comes up against a VIP, if she has principles she will resign or be sacked, if not she will thrive and buy a penthouse.
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Native Vedda / October 17, 2017
Taraki
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A few years ago you implied/said all ills of this island were caused by LTTE and diaspora. LTTE was wiped out by Hindians in 2009. Almost 9 years since the demise of LTTE you still have serious moral and human right issues that the state is unwilling to tackle and you don’t seem to show the same level of outrage when Gota’s public relation machine cited LTTE for everything that happened after May 2009.
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I do not understand how you apply your morality gauge over the past 10 years across the country.
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K A Sumanasekera / October 17, 2017
Dear Native,
If Milly & Kurcher were allowed to Airlift your mate from Nanthikadal, he would have got a PhD by now…..
And would have been doing the Oslo, Paris , London run in Business Class with the Passport calling him Dr Pirahparan……
Vellala Party TNA heavies Messers CV, Sampathar and Abram would have forced Dr Ranil to give him a E Visa to Colombo too.
Whether Trumpy would allow him to NJ, I am not sure……
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Native Vedda / October 17, 2017
KASmaalam K A Sumanasekera
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“If Milly & Kurcher were allowed to Airlift your mate from Nanthikadal, he would have got a PhD by now…..”
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You should be grateful to Hindians for blocking his escape.
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Native Vedda / October 18, 2017
KASmaalam K A Sumanasekera
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“You should be grateful to Hindians for blocking his escape.”
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You have lost a patriot who fought the Hindians to preserve the sovereignty of this island.
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What is going to happen if Hindians invaded this island once again with a view to permanently maintain a contingent in Hambantota forever? Now you don’t have your Thamby VP to fight your war against the Hindians. Where do you think your armed forces would hide behind since they don’t have Thamby’s bum?
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I suggest you retain all those fat belly generals who were unduly promoted soon after the end of war.
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Eliot Ness / October 16, 2017
Looks like the Yahapalanaya gang is trying their damnedest to catch up to the Corruption Quotient of the Mahinda Chinthanaya gangsters.
What next????
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Mallaiyuran / October 16, 2017
“Meanwhile shortly after Colombo Telegraph exposed this story, Inspector Thilak Dissanayake deleted his pictures and profile details from his Facebook account. “
Sad, Thilak has vacated his White Sandy Beach! Where do we look for him now to make the payments and settle the accounts?
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thumpane Gamaya / October 16, 2017
Majority of government officials with authority are corrupt. No wonder Excise department officials are in the game. How can Mrs. Meegasmulla act as if she doesn’t know what is happening in her office? These are spineless officials looking for others to do their work………….. She should have immediately commenced an internal inquiry against the officials…..People have lost faith in the public administration of this country….Best example is Central Bank….with the COI on bond scam, people now know that Central bank of SL is also a Den of Thieves……
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Simon De Silva / October 16, 2017
This particular Thilak Disasnake or the like minded should be punished with the highest possible manner.
Please EXECUTIVE prez, at least use your POWER in such incidents if the PREVAILING authorities have no power to stand against HIGHER criminals of this nature.
There are countries including USA, presidential powers use to control the HIGH crimes in such countries. Why cant our prez do so ?
At least POWERFUL laws should WORK on the high criminals also on the contract killers AND their existence.
There should be new form of POLICE units there to stand against them.
If police cant ARMY should be used to get the round up.
It is said, habaraduwa and some souther areas are filled with ARMY deserters that rung gangs.
IF NOT TODAY WHEN WOULD POLICE REACT ON THEM ?
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Chedi / October 16, 2017
Why is Helen of Troy depending on Parents to give her information when the entire Dept knows what has been happening? Apart from “stern instructions” what other action has been taken or contemplated? The first thing that must be done is to investigate the assets and expenditure of these officers. Can we also ask the previous Commissioner if he knew about this? Will he say “I dont know” ? CT must be applauded for continuing to expose this..
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Tennyson Cooray / October 16, 2017
Although the United National Party (UNP) is yet to prove their ability to manage the economy, they have proven their ability to rob banks, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said.
The UNP robbed banks but the JVP burnt and looted the banks during the JVP terror period 87-89.
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Lapatiya / October 16, 2017
You have to be very careful from the yahapalana President. Don’t forget what happens to that brave Lady Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe. She dragged Gota and 3 former Navy Commanders to the Courts. According to Yahapalana President they all fall in to ‘Ranaviru’ Category. Everybody knows what happens next. Only 2 cases filed before Courts by Bribery and Corruption Commission for one year after Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe resigned. There is News Reports that files belongs to Thummulle Wimale and Nawalapitiye Kamba Hora are now hidden deep in the filing cabinet due to pressure from Yahapalana President Therefore Madam you better clarify with yahapalana President whether the Excise Officers are also coming under the ‘Ranaviri’ category. Also don’t forget that ‘Nawagaththegama Chandiya’ who forced a Female Teacher to Kneel before him became a National Hero for Yahapalana President.
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Chedi / October 16, 2017
Lapatiya! as usual you are spot on!
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Good Sense / October 17, 2017
Dear Mr./Ms. Lapatiya,
Well said. It need not be even MY3. Even a lesser fry can chase her out, even the ransom takers themsleves. Remember! That gang has a wide network; Police Officers, Medical Officers and perhaps even lawyers who can get the required verdict from the courts. SO! If contraband is put in say inside her vehicle without her knowledge and her vehicle is stopped by the law enforcement, what next? She has to loose her job for starters!. If she is really interested in puttting things right she should not play the Big Mother and go on saying “Children! Don’t be naughty!”. She must not understimate the enemy. She should have studied the system in the Department well. (She is an outsider.) Then without the knowledge of the racketeers cause their downfall, perhaps one by one. (Slice by slice as they say.) In any case, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the honest to survive in the Sri Lankan system.
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Sinhale / October 16, 2017
All these are sinhala buddist criminal police.. Wonder if gnanasara and the ‘national heroes’ will storm the buddist criminals houses to save the rata jathiya?? Or can the rata and jathiya only be saved by burning down business’s and houses of the minority? Deep thoughts…
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Jimsofty / October 16, 2017
Sinhale: Ravi KArunanayake, Arjun MAhendran, Arjun Aloesius, Ranil Wickramsinghe, Kabir HAssim are all Sinhala buddhists.————- why Sri lankan law enforccement is this inactive, blind, deaf and dumb. Why do not they follow along these trails. Yahapalana govt after all they have the good governence. does this woman bureaucrats prove that women at the top a blessing in disguise or the same old disaster ?
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Karma Coming Soon / October 16, 2017
Thilak and Chaminda are currently the two notorious guys extorting money in the open still. Mohan Sampath Wijaya and Prasanna Pathirana are the other two. These guys have to be dealt in the same manner they treated innocent victims. Today they are Millionaires by stealing. Mohan lost his wife to an accident and Prasanna’s daughter was born with deformities. His wife donated a kidney to his daughter but tit did not work. Now Prasanna has to pay hefty medical bills whilst his wife and daughter suffer. But Mohan is seen cruising night clubs with foreign chicks after his wife’s death. He will never learn. What do expect from a thief from Kurunegala. Also old boy from Maliyadeva. What an insult to that school. Thilak Dissanayake had visited Dubai recently too with also his extorted monies, must be to buy gifts for his wife and small kid. Let’s wait and watch how long they will dance this jig for.
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sakura / October 16, 2017
Will it happen to this brave lady too as it happened to Ms Dilrukshi Dias?
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rodger dodger / October 16, 2017
This is too serious a crime for herself or her department to investigate. The proper thing to do is to call in the CID to do the investigation and prosecute any wrongdoers.
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Fathima / October 16, 2017
Victims are drug dealers. They cannot go to police!
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Mohideen / October 16, 2017
Dear Fathima,
You may be partly right. However you don’t have the foggiest idea how these guys operate. Several innocent children get roped in too. These guys are professional criminals. If you read the previous story CT exposed these guys, you would have seen that even after taking money they still induce false confessions from these youth after they get severely hammered. Then they take money from parents and still produce them in court on a false charge. Just to show their bosses they are doing a clean job.
Sometimes people like you just talk because you known the language.
May be one of your known drug dealer pals may have got caught to these guys.
Next time talk sensibly please.
Mohideen
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Fathima / October 17, 2017
Ever heard of Sharia?
Under Sharia, none of the criminals (not victims) would be alive! Try this in Saudi and see what happens.
SL law is a joke. Abduction is a crime but drug dealing is also a crime.
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Dharshana W / October 16, 2017
I do not see the point in deep diving into these issues in retrospective. However, any illegal arrests and extortions need to be rectified forthwith.
Helen should be commended for her genuine efforts to put the wrong into right which is a all-balanced status-quo situation.
However the illegal drug trading and usage of party-drugs by the Colombo elite is worth initiating an official investigation, for these are the avenues that allow the leakage of drugs into our society at large.
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K.Pillai / October 16, 2017
Helen Meegasmulla the recently appointed Commissioner of Excise Department of Sri Lanka has urged all those who have been victimized by officers of the Excise Department in the recent past to bring forth their cases to her in person.
This is laudable and we thank you for listening. Has Helen resorted to publicising this offer through other channels as well? It is unlikely the victims’ are regular readers of CT.
Helen, please bear in mind that for obvious reasons the victims may be reluctant to come forward. So if the response is not very enthusiastic, it does NOT mean that the blackmailing is not there.
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Chedi / October 17, 2017
K.Pillai you are right. Helen should channel her appeal via the National TV stations and the national newspapers. Only then will the shit hit the fan.
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Kugan / October 17, 2017
We Tamils gone through a lot with these brutual officials
It’s turning back to its own
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Spring Koha / October 17, 2017
Dear Helen Meegasmulla
I salute your determination, and wish you will.
I am concerned about the challenge ahead given the latest news that Shanil Nethicumara (secretary of several ministries) has issued a fatwa on lovely Anika Wijesuriya who only told the truth to the Bond Commission.
Commissioner Helen, the truth is out there and the evidence available. Weed out the buggers in your department who are bringing misery to unfortunate people and disgrace to your department – on your watch!
Should you succeed, I promise to send you a huge bunch of flowers in appreciation. Good luck.
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Professor M. Chandra Swarnalatha Perera / October 20, 2017
Helan be careful ‘ You won’t be able to clean your Department under this Yahapalanaya people.They are more corrupted than your Inspectors like Dissanayake . I know about you very well, you are honest and hardworking lady. You were one of my students in my Department of Sociology at the University of Jayawardenapura. I know your capability. Don’t listen to corrupt politician if you want to clear your Dept.
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Professor M. Chandra Swarnalatha Perera-USA / October 20, 2017
Helan be careful ‘ You won’t be able to clean your Department under this Yahapalanaya people.They are more corrupted than your Inspectors like Dissanayake . I know about you very well, you are honest and hardworking lady. You were one of my students in my Department of Sociology at the University of Jayawardenapura. I know your capability. Don’t listen to corrupt politician if you want to clean your Department
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