If Champika was involved in accident police ready to probe, once there is a complaint – Senior DIG
Senior DIG Western Province Pujith Jayasundara yesterday said the police were ready to ascertain the veracity of the claims that Megapolis and Western Province Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka was involved in a road accident which injured two persons, if a complaint was lodged to that effect.
“We have not received any complaint of Minister Ranawaka’s involvement in the accident. A driver attached to the Power and Energy Ministry has come forward admitting that he was driving a Ministry vehicle when it hit a motorcycle. If anyone lodges a complaint against Minister Ranawaka, we are ready to investigate it.”
Asked why the driver had been to the Borella police instead of going to Welikada police station as the accident had occurred in Rajagiriya the SDIG said that he had done so for fear of being assaulted.
According to available information the mishap had occurred last Sunday night (28) around 9.50 pm near the Election Commissioner’s Office, Rajagiriya, police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara told The Island yesterday.
“Of the two injured, the rider of the motorcycle is being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Colombo National Hospital. The pillion rider who suffered a broken arm is also warded at the same hospital, but his condition is not serious.”
The critically injured person has been identified as Sandeepa Sampath of Meegoda and the other Manula Abeysundera of Colombo 05.
ASP Gunasekara said that the driver who admitted that he met with an accident had been arrested after he surrendered to the Borella police station that night and handed over to the Welikada police station.
Driver Thusitha Kumara, who was produced before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate on February 29, had been released on a personal bail of Rs. 500,000, Police Media Unit (PMU) said.
His driving licence was suspended. The vehicle and the motorcycle are being kept at the Borella police station for the examination by the officers of the Motor Traffic Department. The case has been postponed to May 04, 2016.
(Source: The Island – By Madura Ranwala)
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Hope police having CCTV footage. (deleted?)
Identify the whereabouts of the MP at that moment will easily pull the trigger.
But with this ‘Yaha Pala’, things will not happen to the one’s inside the den.
So poor guy will suffer in ICU.
This is weird! When there is a motor car accident it is the duty of the police to investigate and if there any violation of traffic rules to bring the culprits to the books. It seems police is waiting for the public to do the police work.
That’s wat it is called accident. How these fools know.
the question is did the bike hit the jeep or the jeep hit the jeep
the jeep is damaged in the rear so how did a jeep traveling forward knock down a motorbike travelling from behind
this should be clarified.
Maybe the jeep was travelling forward but moving backward.
If Einstein was living, he could have solved it using theory of relativity.
The jeep was being driven by a Minister/Driver and as always, Ministers do not know if they are going forward or backward. They do not know where they are going?
Maybe, that solves the problem.
Champika I thought was an honest straightforward man. A professional too. Would have owned up if he was the driver of the jeep. Accidents do happen especially with so many vehicles in the city.
As is usual with the police rely on the veracity of the statements made by `eye witness’
For a start whoever who drove the vehicle should not have left the scene and called the police over the phone and then his boss. Then the police could have done cordoned off the area summoned the ambulance to take the injured to the police. No the diver takes 20 minutes to get not to the nearest
police station and lodge a complaint.
The megapolis minister had not made statement as to what errand the driver was on at that particular time. So had there been any conflict between staement made by minister megapoli, the driver and any eye witness if any would warrant further examination.
Accidents are common and generally the victims die, otherwise the insurance take the responsibility takes over the liability. As a routine police files a case if there is death and invariably returns a verdict of manslaughter and accused given a couple of years hard labor or a suspended sentence and the whole incident is forgotten.
The media got involved because minister megapolis was involved and if he is honorable then he ought to have made a statement to the police regardles whether the police wanted it or not. If the ministry owns the jeep then it is his responsibility resolve any conflicts associated with the jeep. ministers megapolis failure to do so makes the circumstances suspicious!
The problem with road accidents is that you may or may not be at fault. Stopping at the accident scene causes high risk to the driver as the spectators may decide to take law into their own hands and cause harm to the driver. With an active underworld in Colombo, which brazenly attacked a prisoner in a protected prison van, I would think a 100 times before I alight from a vehicle.