Colombo cops supplied ritual items for DIG wife’s treasure hunting in Anuradhapura

By Bimal Shyaman Jayasinghe   

A group of police officers, including the former Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of a Colombo police station, have allegedly provided items—including a live chicken and various ritual paraphernalia—for a religious ceremony linked to an illegal treasure hunt in Anuradhapura, in which the wife of a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police and seven others were arrested, informed sources said.   
These items were reportedly provided by a police station operating directly under the DIG’s jurisdiction.   
The items, allegedly supplied at the DIG’s request, were delivered to his wife, who is now among the eight individuals arrested and remanded over the unauthorized excavation of a sacred shrine located within a private residence in Anuradhapura.   
According to police sources, the DIG’s wife—who is herself a former police constable—had requested the items for ritual purposes believed to be part of the treasure-hunting operation.   
Further investigations have revealed that the chicken used in the ritual was supplied by a police sergeant currently serving in the Crime Division of the station. This officer had previously been removed from court duties following allegations of corruption during his tenure under a now-retired OIC of the same police station.   
Additionally, an Inspector of Police (IP), serving in a deputy OIC role at a sub-division of the same station, is said to have provided key items used in the excavation—among them camphor, lime powder, and a water pump with hoses.   
Sources also said that the delivery of these materials to the DIG’s wife was reportedly carried out using an official Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle belonging to the police division’s Crime Prevention Unit. The vehicle was driven by a designated police constable, they said.