Rajitha not arrested yet, AG’s Dept. tells court

The Attorney General’s Department has informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court that former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne has not been arrested so far, Ada Derana correspondent said.

This was mentioned during when the two individuals, who made controversial claims regarding purported “white van” abductions during a press conference called by MP Rajitha Senaratne a few days before the presidential election last month, were produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne this morning (27).

The chief magistrate had inquired if the third suspect in this case, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, who was admitted to the Lanka Hospitals in Narahenpita last night, was taken into custody.

Responding to this, Deputy Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris told the chief magistrate that the parliamentarian is yet to be arrested.

Speaking further, he has said that on 24th December, the Colombo Additional Magistrate had issued a warrant to arrest Senaratne over the controversial “white van” media briefing, however, after being in hiding, the parliamentarian got himself admitted to a private hospital last night. He added, the doctors in charge have informed the CID officers that Senaratne is currently suffering from high blood pressure and stress, hence advised them to maintain distance from the patient.

The chief magistrate then stated that she requires time to study the report submitted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) regarding the case.