We were misled by our superiors; Former CCD OIC

By Yohan Perera   

Former Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) OIC Anslem de Silva yesterday said he and others who were sent to Weligama on a raid in December 2023 were misled by senior police officers.  

De Silva made this comment while testifying before the commission which is probing the allegations against Deshabandu Tennekoon last afternoon.  

“We were instructed to say that a third party shot at our vehicle even though it was done by the Weligama police,” he added blaming then CCD Director Neville de Silva for misleading him and other police officers.   

“We are facing a difficult situation because of our superiors today. I have lost my pension as a result of this incident. This is a lesson to all state officers,” he said.   

Testifying on the shootout at Weligama in 2023, he said they were sent to Weligama to shoot at a hotel in Weligama where a group of drug dealers had a party. “We shot at the parapet wall of the hotel to frighten them as we were advised to. We were then shot at by others who had come in a jeep. We were initially instructed to say that we were shot at by a third party. We agreed and gave statements and then we decided to come out with the truth,” he said revealing that they were shot at by those attached to the Weligama police.   

The council of IGP Deshabandu Tennekoon Sanjeewa Weerawickrama who responded then suggested that de Silva was uttering lies before the commission. However de Silva refuted the claim.