Avant-Garde chairman arrested at BIA
October 17, 2019 07:43 am
The Chairman of Avant-Garde Maritime Services Nissanka Senadhipathi, who had been staying in Singapore, was arrested upon his arrival in Sri Lanka yesterday.
The arrest was made early this morning (17) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He had arrived at the BIA via Singapore Airlines SQ 468 at around 11.35 pm last night (16).
Senadhipathi, who recently revealed a controversial telephone conversation he has had with former Bribery Commission chief Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe, was arrested under the orders of Galle Magistrate’s Court for violating the overseas travel ban imposed on him.
The CID has launched further investigations on the suspect.
On the 5th of July, the Attorney General had ordered the immediate arrest of the defendants in the Avant-Garde case. However, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) informed the Attorney General’s Department that Senadhipathi is out of the country.
The Colombo High Court later issued warrants to arrest Senadhipathi and former Chairman of Rakna Lanka Major General Palitha Fernando.
Several days later, the arrest warrant on the two chairmen was recalled. The order was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Shashi Mahendran after in-depth consideration into the submissions presented by the defence attorneys. Attorneys representing Avant-Garde chairman had told the court that their client has undergone three surgeries in Singapore and is due to undergo two other surgeries.
The Attorney General, on August 21, requested the Chief Justice to appoint a Trial-at-Bar in Colombo High Court over MV Avant-Garde arms trafficking case. The Bribery Commission subsequently informed the Colombo High Court that the witness hearing of Avant-Garde floating armoury case in the absence of Senadhipathi, who had left the country.
An indictment comprising 7,573 charges has been filed against the defendants of the case.
The Bribery Commission filed a case with the Colombo Magistrate’s Court against the former Defence Secretary and eight defendants for incurring a loss of Rs 11.4 billion to the government by allegedly allowing Avant-Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armoury at the Galle Fort.
The defendants of this case include Chairman of Avant-Garde Nissanka Yapa Senadhipathi, former Additional Defence Secretary Damayanthi Jayaratne, and the former Coordinating Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Palitha Fernando.
