(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Following the departure of a senior police officer, the Police Headquarters has informed the Immigration and Emigration Department to inform the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) if police officers attempt to travel abroad without permission.
The Police Headquarters said a list of over 700 officers attached to several units of the CID including the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) has been sent to airport authorities in order to prevent the officers who are named as witnesses and prosecutors in various cases.
Police Media Spokesperson SSP Ruwan Gunasekara says that this action has been taken if such officers, who are probing numerous crimes and witnesses in many court cases, suddenly go abroad, many cases being tried in courts will be in trouble.
The Spokesperson said the Department of Immigration and Emigration has been asked to inquire whether any officer in the list including the former Director of the CID, Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekara, who is also a witness in an ongoing case, has obtained legal permission to go abroad.
Officer-In-Charge of the Organized Crimes Investigation Division of CID Inspector Nishantha Silva, who conducted investigations into a series of high profile crimes, has reportedly left the country yesterday with his family after receiving death threats soon after the change of government,.
