By Suranimala –
Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe (Jr) unleashed a bolt from the blue when he sent a letter dated 27th of January 2025 to Mt. Lavinia Magistrate informing that the AG’s Department would not pursue further action against three suspects arrested and subsequently enlarged on bail in connection with the murder of senior journalist and fellow lawyer Lasantha Wickrematunge on January 8, 2009.

In this regard, it has to be taken into consideration that Premananda Udalagama, a former intelligence officer of the Sri Lanka Army, trained under the supervision of a senior ex-LTTE militant was arrested after evidence was obtained that he was connected with the abduction of Dias, Lasantha’s driver, who had repeatedly claimed at his watering hole that Ahimsa (Lasantha’s daughter) suspected that Gotabaya was behind her father’s murder. He was abducted and warned that he would face dire consequences if he continues in this vein. Dias, thereafter, went underground out of fear. He later identified Udalagama as the man who had abducted him, as had Upali Tennekoon, who too was assaulted subsequently. This was in addition to other incriminating evidence.

Now, let’s revisit the period before the Yahapalana Government was elected.

It is no secret that the Rajapaksa regime created a War Hero syndrome which resonated well with the majority of the Sinhala-Buddhist community. President Sirisena, who succeeded Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as his Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinge, found this convenient and did not buck the system lest they lose votes.

The rogue units (Tripoli Camp) of the Army used by Gotabaya were protected by them as well. Apparently good governance and adherence to the rule of law needed to be shelved since the majority of Sinhala-Buddhists were basking under a war victory. They did not understand nor could grasp that the Tamils were also Sri Lankans. However, the Rajapaksas who created this new phenomenon (Sinhala/ Buddhist) had in fact fashioned a monster which could be used and was used by politicians of different hues to come to power.

In 2022, when petrol, kerosene, diesel, gas and power were disrupted in every household, such a sentiments flew out of the window and the people hoofed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power. They were in fact exclaiming, ‘be damned with Sinhala-Buddhism, we want our gas, kerosene, petrol, electricity and diesel.”

Now, let’s focus on the ruling of the Attorney General. Prasanna Alwis of the CID, who during the Rajapaksa regime was accused of attempting to coax Kandegedara Piyawansa, and Army intelligence officer (arrested and remanded for flicking Jesudasan’s ID, which was used to obtain 5 SIM cards for these operations including Lasantha murder) to implicate Sarath Fonseka in the murder of Lasantha, was the very person tasked in 2020 to furnish a fresh report on the arrests of Udalagama, Tissa Sugathapala (Police SI, who was ordered by DIG Nanayakkara to alter his notes which contained motor cycle numbers written by Lasantha in his notebook during the chase) and DIG Nanayakkara. Of course, Alwis, (himself a suspect) naturally furnished a report to the Attorney General’s Department exonerating the three suspects.

Now in 2025, the Attorney General wakes from slumber, casts aside the earlier investigation reports of SSP Shani et al, and relies solely on Prasanna Alwis’s report to recommend that the Department does not contemplate taking action against these three suspects and instructs the CID to inform this to the Mt Lavinia Magistrate. This refers to the Lasantha murder case No B 92/2008. Aesop’s Fables pales in comparison!

Recall that the CID, in the early stages of this investigation, many moons before this Attorney General took office, did forward their findings to the Department, and that the then Attorney General recommended that the three be arrested produced in court (as there was sufficient evidence) to be remanded. This was done.

Is the Deep State in full throttle? If so, is Tiran Alles a part of it? Is Ranil Wickremesinghe its President? Is it Mahinda Rajapaksa? Is it Gotabaya and Basil Rajapaksa, or all of them together with a section of the tri-forces and the influential sections of the rogue corporate sector? Me thinks it’s a loose amalgam of all.

Now, what does all this bode for Sri Lanka and/or the present government? It is widely suspected that Tiran Alles has a stranglehold on President AKD. It is also widely believed that Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksa family work closely with Tiran. Remember Tiran saying that the Rajapaksas paid the LTTE millions to get Northern Province voters to boycott the Presidential Election that Ranil lost? The same Alles later joined the Rajapaksas as a minister and continued under Ranil. Are we idiots to believe these guys were and are getting together for our benefit?

God help Sri Lanka as long as the gullible Sinhala-Buddhists, who form a majority, keep believing that they are a superior race despite a large number of them being poor and will continue to remain as such for generations to come. Until religion and ethnicity are considered to be personal and not political, Sri Lanka will twist and turn to find its true potential. In the meantime, many Lasanthas will die. Think about it.