Following alleged deaths threats “Neurosurgeon’s daughter has voluntarily given statement to police in Sinhala”: Bribery Commission

By Bhagya Silva

The daughter of the remanded specialist neurosurgeon Dr. Maheshi Wijerathna had voluntarily gone to the Kurunduwatta Police and given a statement in Sinhala, without having been summoned, following alleged death threats she made to Bribery Commission officials last Friday, Assistant Director of the Bribery Commission, counsel Sulochana Hettiarachchi told the court.

Upon the suspect being produced in court, her counsel claimed that the statement had been given on the same Friday.

Yet, an internal inquiry by the Bribery Commission revealed that the statement had actually been made on Sunday, not Friday as previously claimed.

Due to the apparent inconsistency and the seriousness of the threat allegation, the Magistrate issued a notice to the Officer-in-Charge of Kurunduwatta Police to appear and make submissions before the court regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, the specialist neurosurgeon Dr. Maheshi Wijerathna at Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital was ordered to be further remanded till 15 over allegations of corruption by Colombo Chief Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali Jayathunga yesterday.

Also, the second suspect, Nimal Ranjith and the Third suspect, Kakulanda Liyanage were released on bail with two sureties of Rs. 2 million each and cash bail of Rs. 25,000 each.

The Commission further submitted that the investigation into the larger incident commenced based on intelligence received on September 11, 2023, linked to a complaint made on September 5, 2023, by Chamara Prasad Abeywardena to the hospital director.

The complaint alleged that a surgical equipment worth Rs. 30,000 was illegally sold for over Rs. 175,000. A voice recording of a conversation between the director and the third suspect has since been forwarded to the Government Analyst for forensic examination.

Appearing for the suspects, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunaratne and Anuja Premaratne told the court that their client the main suspect is a highly respected neurosurgeon, having performed over 10,000 surgeries, including 8,000 in Sri Lanka and 2,000 in the UK.

They further argued that the second and third suspects lacked the capacity or influence to interfere with witnesses involved in the case.

The Magistrate, delivering her remarks in court, stated that bail for the first suspect was refused as there exists a significant risk of interference with witnesses if she were to be released.