ASP released on surety bail

14 October 2011 06:00 pm

The Colombo High Court released an ASP of the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) who was the main witness in a voir dire case in Rs. 100,000 surety bail for failing to appear in court for the prosecution.

Colombo High Court Judge Sunil Rajapaksa released the ASP S.L.A. Ranasinghe of the TID on Rs 100,000 surety bail when it was found that the ASP who was the main witness in the case, had failed to appear in court on September 7 for the trial.

The voir dire trial which was fixed to ascertain whether the statement made to the TID by the accused Thiagarajah Mohan Ruban who was alleged to have LTTE connections was a voluntary one or made under duress. The statement had been recorded by the witness ASP S.L.A. Ranasinghe.

When the case was taken up for trial on September 12, the ASP was present in court to give evidence for the prosecution.

The court observed that even though the court had given notice to the ASP to appear in court on September 7 to give evidence for the prosecution, he had ignored the notice or had failed to appear in court.

The trial was fixed for November 15. (T. Farook Thajudeen)