US should arrest Gotabaya - Tamil forums urge Obama

In an urgent appeal to President Obama, two major Tamil groups in the United States Tamils for Obama and American Tamil Forum urged the United States to arrest former Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is reported to be currently visiting US, the two organizations said in a statement today. 

“US should not miss the opportunity to arrest and prosecute one of the main war criminals in recent times visiting the US.

 Failure to do so would encourage others to commit abuses amounting to war crimes” said these two organizations. 

The UN Human Rights Council, led by the US, last year passed a Sri Lanka resolution to hold a credible investigation to punish those responsible for these killings.  “United States should take the same leadership it took at the UN to initiate investigation for the visiting Sri Lankan war criminal,” said these two organizations. - EIN Presswire - Agencies

Pujitha Jayasundara appointed as the 34th Inspector General of Police

Senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara has been appointed as the 34th Inspector General of Police (IGP) by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Earlier, the Constitutional Council nominated Senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara as the next Inspector General of Police, sources revealed.

President Maithripala Sirisena sent the nominations of the three most senior serving members of the Police Department for the post of IGP to the Constitutional Council on April 8.

The three names proposed by the President are Acting IGP S. M. Wickramasinghe, Senior Deputy Inspectors General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and Chandana Wickramaratne.

Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara was reported to be the forerunner among the contenders for the post of IGP.

The post of IGP fell vacant with the retirement of N.K. Illangakoon on April 11.

8 Sri Lankan nationals suspects of Bangladesh bank heist

Bangladeshi investigators have identified eight Sri Lankans as suspects among 20 foreign nationals suspected to have been involved in the US$ 101 million cyber heist from the nation's foreign reserves.

According to a Reuters report, a Bangladeshi police officer has said on Monday that the investigators have identified 20 foreigners - 12 Philippine nationals and eight Sri Lankans - as suspects involved in the cyber heist, but they appear to be those who received some of the payments, and not the hackers.

Mohammad Shah Alam, a senior officer at the criminal investigation department (CID) of the Bangladesh police, said Interpol had helped identify the foreigners suspected to be involved in one of the largest cyber heists in history.

"We have identified at least 20 foreigners with name and full particulars who we believe were involved," Alam told reporters.

Hackers using official messaging codes transferred $81 million to accounts in Manila, Philippines and $20 million to the account of a newly formed NGO in Sri Lanka.

A 16-member team of the CID have visited the Philippines and Sri Lanka to collect information on the heist. The details on the outcome of the visit will be made public later on, the official said.

Another official on his team said the results of the investigation had been submitted to Philippine and Sri Lankan authorities.

Both Alam and the other official said they could not provide more details about the foreign suspects because investigations were not complete.

Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is also investigating the cyber theft, but has declined to provide any information.

Remove Sampanthan, arrest Wigneswaran: Sinhala Ravaya

A Sinhala radical Buddhist monk outfit Tuesday urged the government to remove main Opposition leader R. Sampanthan and arrest Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister C.V Wigneswaran, accusing them of trying to achieve what the Tamil Tiger rebels could not achieve at gunpoint.

Magalkande Sudantha Thera of Sinhala demanded the immediate appointment of Sinhala Opposition leader, charging the TNA leader of only representing the interest of the Tamils in the county.

“They need to appoint an Opposition leader who can represent the interest of the majority Sinhala community. The incumbent Opposition leader should be removed with immediate effect,” Magalkande Sudantha Thera said at a media conference held at Bodhu Bala Sena office in Colombo.

Claiming that the situation is deteriorating, he said it was due to the absence of a Sinhala Opposition leader.

“The incumbent Opposition leader is only talking about the interest of the Tamil people. He is trying to win the demands of only the Tamil people. Both the Opposition leader and the Northern Chief Minister are trying to achieve what the LTTE could not achieve at gunpoint, in the name of reconciliation,” he said.

Commenting on proposals of the NPC to the Consultative Committee of the Constitutional Reforms, the hardline monk questioned President, Prime Minister the Cabinet of Ministers “whether they are scared of Northern Chief Minister Wigneswaran”.

“He is making statements aiming to push the country back into the clutches of terrorism and create bloodbath. He should be made withdraw his statements. He should be arrested and questioned for making statements in gross violation of the constitution,” Magalkande Sudantha Thera of Sinhala demanded.

Appointing Pujith Jayasundara as next IGP illegal

The proposal to appoint Pujith Jayasundara as the next Inspector General of Police (IGP) is illegal, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Leader Udaya Gammanpila stresses. 

The observation was made during a press conference held in Colombo this morning (19). 

Gammanpila went on to say the decision cannot be accepted since Minister Patali Ranawaka, who was in the spotlight following an accident in Rajagiriya, is also being part of the Constitutional Council.

 “Ranawaka showed his gratitude to the nominee. Now time for Pujith to show his gratitude,” Gammanpila added. 

He also pointed out the police would intend to procrastinate the investigation against the Minister due to the move. “S.M. Wickramasinghe is more senior. Yet the Constitutional Council had nominated Pujith Jayasundara,” Gammanpila said. Senior DIG Jayasundara was nominated as the next IGP by a majority of the Constitutional Council members last afternoon (18).

Rajapaksa’s ex-astrologer Sumanadasa on Auspicious times

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ex-astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena yesterday said that there was nothing wrong with the auspicious times given for oil anointing for the New Year, but the westerly direction was inauspicious.

The former President has claimed the auspicious times were wrong.

"Usually, the West is not considered auspicious and the auspicious direction was north on the particular day," the astrologer said.

Abeywardena in his astrological predictions in late 2014 said that President Rajapaksa would cruise to an overwhelming win at the January 8 Presidential election.

SDIG Pujitha Jayasundara nominated as IGP

The Constitutional Council has nominated Senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara as the next Inspector General of Police, sources revealed.

Earlier, three nominees for the post of the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) were summoned before the Constitutional Council.

The Constitutional Council met at the Parliamentary complex at 3.00 p.m. today to decide on the appointment of the country's 34th IGP.

President Maithripala Sirisena sent the nominations of the three most senior serving members of the Police Department for the post of IGP to the Constitutional Council on April 8.

The three names proposed by the President are Acting IGP S. M. Wickramasinghe, Senior Deputy Inspectors General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and Chandana Wickramaratne.

Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara was reported to be the forerunner among the contenders for the post of IGP.

Parliament Deputy Secretary-General Neil Iddawala told yesterday, letters were sent to the nominees asking them to appear before the Council meeting. The three nominees will be interviewed by the Council members before the final decision.

The post of IGP fell vacant with the retirement of N.K. Illangakoon on April 11.

Iddawala said all 10 Council members have been informed of today’s meeting. The 10 members include three ex-officio members, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapakshe and John Seneviratne, JVP MP Vijitha Herath representing the minor parties and Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy and Justice Shibly Aziz representing civil society.

Once a final agreement on the appointment is reached, the Constitutional Council will inform its decision to the President in writing.

Sri Lankan Housemaid Killed in Oman

Ac­cord­ing to the re­ports re­ceived so far, the woman had been al­legedly killed by a Pak­istani man

A Sri Lankan mi­grant house­maid in Oman was found to be killed in a city, out of Mus­cat, the Cap­i­tal of Oman, Sri Lanka For­eign Em­ploy­ment Bureau of­fi­cials said.

They said that the house­maid was not reg­is­tered with the Sri Lanka For­eign Em­ploy­ment Bureau (SLFEB).

They said that the house­maid was not reg­is­tered with the Sri Lanka For­eign Em­ploy­ment Bureau (SLFEB).

For­eign Em­ploy­ment Min­is­ter Tha­latha Atuko­rale told that the Min­istry was co­or­di­nat­ing with the Omani Po­lice and the Sri Lankan Mis­sion in Oman to get more in­for­ma­tion into the death of the house­maid.

Ac­cord­ing to re­ports, the house­maid had been killed by slit­ting her throat few days ago. Min­is­ter Athuko­rale said the Sri Lanka For­eign Em­ploy­ment Bureau could not take up the re­spon­si­bil­ity of bring­ing back the body since she had not been reg­is­tered with the SLFEB.

Ac­cord­ing to re­ports, the house­maid had been killed by slit­ting her throat few days ago. Min­is­ter Athuko­rale said the Sri Lanka For­eign Em­ploy­ment Bureau could not take up the re­spon­si­bil­ity of bring­ing back the body since she had not been reg­is­tered with the SLFEB.

“De­spite our un­wa­ver­ing effort to ed­u­cate the Sri Lankan women the haz­ards of mi­grat­ing overseas via un­reg­is­tered agents, it seems to be con­tin­u­ing. Some of them are still go­ing overseas with­out fol­low­ing the proper chan­nels at the Bureau. It makes us very dif­fi­cult to con­tact them in times of emer­gency,” the Min­is­ter said. How­ever, she said ac­cord­ing to the re­ports re­ceived so far, the woman had been al­legedly killed by a Pak­istani man, af­ter a dis­pute be­tween them about a clan­des­tine af­fair of the woman with an­other man. How­ever, Ms.atuko­rale said the de­tails were yet to be con­firmed by the Sri Lankan Am­bas­sador Mr. Pad­manathan in Oman.the SLFEB im­ple­mented a reg­u­la­tion, with ef­fect from Jan­uary 1 that the Bureau would no longer make any effort to bring back Sri Lankan house­maids from abroad, if they had not reg­is­tered with the Bureau prior to their de­par­ture.

“De­spite our un­wa­ver­ing effort to ed­u­cate the Sri Lankan women the haz­ards of mi­grat­ing overseas via un­reg­is­tered agents, it seems to be con­tin­u­ing. Some of them are still go­ing overseas with­out fol­low­ing the proper chan­nels at the Bureau. It makes us very dif­fi­cult to con­tact them in times of emer­gency,” the Min­is­ter said. How­ever, she said ac­cord­ing to the re­ports re­ceived so far, the woman had been al­legedly killed by a Pak­istani man, af­ter a dis­pute be­tween them about a clan­des­tine af­fair of the woman with an­other man. How­ever, Ms.atuko­rale said the de­tails were yet to be con­firmed by the Sri Lankan Am­bas­sador Mr. Pad­manathan in Oman.the SLFEB im­ple­mented a reg­u­la­tion, with ef­fect from Jan­uary 1 that the Bureau would no longer make any effort to bring back Sri Lankan house­maids from abroad, if they had not reg­is­tered with the Bureau prior to their de­par­ture.

With this reg­u­la­tion, any house­maid, who had gone abroad for em­ploy­ment with­out reg­is­ter­ing with the Bureau, would not be brought back at state ex­pense even in case of ill health, mis­treat­ment by em­ploy­ers or their bod­ies, in case of death

With this reg­u­la­tion, any house­maid, who had gone abroad for em­ploy­ment with­out reg­is­ter­ing with the Bureau, would not be brought back at state ex­pense even in case of ill health, mis­treat­ment by em­ploy­ers or their bod­ies, in case of death