Former Sri Lankan cricket captain and opposition member Hashan Tillakaratne was questioned by the police and his house searched in connection with investigations against former army chief Sarath Fonseka on Wednesday.
Fonseka was arrested on February 8 for conspiracy and treason and is in
military custody.
A top officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) told HT that they had information that Tillakaratne was harbouring Fonseka’s son-in-law, Danuna Tillekeratne, who is on the run from the police for several days now.
"We had information that Hashan was harbouring Danuna in a house in Peliyandala (a Colombo suburb). We didn’t need a search warrant as there is already an arrest warrant against Danuna. The house was searched but the fugitive wasn’t found there. Later, Hashan came on his own to us and we recorded his statement," the officer said.
The police are looking for Fonseka's son-in-law because of his alleged involvement in a company dealing with arms and ammunition. It was alleged that Fonseka during his tenure as the army chief favoured Hicorp company, the US-based company owned by Danuna.
In another curious development, one of Fonseka’s close aides during the run-up to the Presidential poll – who was also arrested – could have legal action initiated against him by the Attorney General’s department (AG) on behalf of Belgium in a case of illegal money transfer.
Daily Mirror online said Belgian authorities were likely to visit Sri Lanka soon to file action through the Attorney General's department to recover the money illegally transferred to a local branch of an international bank in Sri Lanka by Senaka De Silva, Fonseka’s aide.
De Silva – a former chief of the special task force – was allegedly sentenced in absentia and imprisoned for two years in Belgium for illegal money transfers. De Silva was arrested along with Fonseka on February 8.