^{Sri Lanka! 2025} බොරලැස්ගමුවේ වෙඩි තැබීමක් – අයෙක් මරුට, රනිල් දැඩි සත්කාර ඒකකයට, A wartime mass grave in Sri Lanka yields a baby bottle children’s clothes and 141 skeletons, Wickremesinghe sent to prison as Colombo court rejects bail, Former Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe arrested on allegations of misusing state funds, Four Indian fishermen from Rameswaram arrested by Sri Lankan Navy, Death Sentence overturned for 80-Year-Old Woman in 1993 Murder, Mahindananda others granted bail in separate carrom board case, Ex-Minister S.M. Chandrasena further remanded, පියුමි හංසමාලිගේ පුතාට ඇප – ගුටිකෑ පුද්ගලයාගේ පවුලට තර්ජන, Eight Indian fishermen from Rameswaram arrested by Sri Lankan Navy, නීති විරෝධී ලෙස ගෙන්වූ සුපිරි වාහන දෙකක් හමුවෙයි, මෘදුකාංග ඉංජිනේරුවා දැරියන් තුනක් කෙලෙසලා , මවගේ මරණයට පුතා අත්අඩංගුවට, කුරුණෑගල ප්‍රසිද්ධ හෝටල් හිමිකරුවෙකු ඝාතනය කරලා! ඔහුගේම රිය තුළින් පිළිස්සුණු මළ සිරුර හමුවෙයි, පොඩි සහරාන් අත්අඩංගුවට

Wickremesinghe sent to prison as Colombo court rejects bail

Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been remanded in custody until 26 August, following a decision by the Colombo Fort Magistrates’ Court this evening.

He was escorted to Welikada prison in handcuffs by Sri Lankan police officers this evening after his bail application was denied.

The 76-year-old former president has reportedly been admitted into the prison hospital on the advice of doctors.

Wickremesinghe, who served as head of state from 2022 to 2024 and was a six-time prime minister, was arrested earlier today by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over allegations that he misused state funds to finance a private trip to London during his presidency. The visit included attending the graduation ceremony of his wife, Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe.

Appearing before court today, Wickremesinghe’s legal counsel argued that detaining the former president posed a serious risk to his security and health, and petitioned for bail to be granted. The request was denied, with magistrates ruling that Wickremesinghe would remain in custody until Tuesday.

Outside the court, hundreds of supporters gathered, chanting in anger as the remand order was announced. Among those present were senior political figures, including Namal Rajapaksa, former president Maithripala Sirisena, and former Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who had earlier visited court in a show of solidarity.

There were chaotic scenes as Wickremesinghe was escorted away.

President’s Counsel Anuja Premaratne, appeared for Wickremesinghe, stating he is “76 years old, suffering from heart disease for seven years, as well as diabetes and hypertension”.

“For the first time today, it is revealed that his wife is a cancer patient. They have no children and depend solely on each other. He is scheduled to be the chief guest at the Commonwealth Youth Council in India on August 24. Prison is not a safe place for a former President. I therefore respectfully request Your Honour to release my client on suitable bail conditions.”

The judge ruled against Wickremesinghe.

The arrest of the former president marks the first time a former head of state has ever been detained on the island. Sri Lankan Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem condemned the manner of Wickremesinghe’s detention as “unbecoming” and akin to treating him “like a common criminal.” Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed also voiced support, stating he looked forward to Wickremesinghe’s “return home shortly.”

Wickremesinghe will remain in remand prison until 26 August, when the case is scheduled to be reviewed once more.

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Former Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe arrested on allegations of misusing state funds

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Police in Sri Lanka arrested former President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday over allegations that the senior opposition politician misused public funds during his presidency, police said.

Wickremesinghe, who was president from 2022 to 2024, is accused of using the funds to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the United States, police spokesman Fredrick Wootler told The Associated Press.

Wickremesinghe appeared for a lengthy hearing before a magistrate court in the capital, Colombo, and was ordered to be kept in custody until Aug. 26. He didn’t comment during the hearing, and there was no immediate statement from his office. A large crowd of Wickremesinghe’s supporters gathered outside the court to protest his arrest.

Wickremesinghe is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested and the most prominent leader under investigation for corruption under the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who came to power last year on an anti-corruption platform.

Dissanayake won the presidential election in September when voters rejected an old guard accused of leading the country into an economic crisis. Two months later, his party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election that enabled him to form a strong government.

Already more than a dozen former high government officials and political leaders are under investigation for alleged wrongdoing.

Wickremesinghe became president after Sri Lanka’s economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022.

Wickremesinghe was credited with stabilizing the crumbling economy. Under his leadership, inflation fell, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased. But he faced public backlash over his government’s stringent austerity measures, including raising taxes and utility rates, imposed as part of a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund.

CHEMMANI, Sri Lanka — A baby bottle, a squeaky toy and a schoolbag are among items that have surfaced from a mass grave site in Sri Lanka’s formerly war-torn northern region, along with 141 human skeletons including some that appear to be of children of different ages.

The findings were made at a cremation ground in the Chemmani area near Jaffna town, the cultural heartland of the country’s ethnic Tamil minority. But hardly any burials take place here, as Hindus mostly cremate their dead according to religious customs.

Excavations have been underway since June, after workers found human remains while digging to build an electric crematorium.

A pit test over nine days discovered 19 sets of human remains. Shallow burials of about 4.9 feet in a scattered and disorganized manner, and the absence of clothing, indicated the site was a mass grave, according to a report provided to a court in June.

Since the area was secured and declared a crime scene that month, a total of 141 skeletons have been discovered within a 1,776-square-foot area. About 135 of the bodies had no clothing, and only one set of adult clothing was identified. Tests confirmed that a skeleton found with a schoolbag was that of a girl between 4 and 6 years old. Toddlers’ dresses, socks and footwear, tiny bead bangles and a baby powder tray were also recovered.

The identities of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unclear. But many think the victims could be civilians who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which broke out in 1983 between government forces and ethnic Tamil rebels, who fought to create an independent homeland for the minority group. The war ended in 2009.

Several Tamil armed groups and an Indian peacekeeping mission were active in the region over the decades. But attention has focused on the Sri Lankan military, which had a heavy presence for more than a decade in Chemmani, as the gateway to Jaffna town.

Decades-old confession heightens suspicions
A confession made by an army soldier before he was sentenced to death for rape and murder 27 years ago has strengthened suspicions about the site.

In 1998, Somaratne Rajapakse along with four alleged accomplices from the military and police were sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a schoolgirl and the killing of her mother, brother and a neighbor.

The five, who weren’t hanged and remain in prison due to a moratorium on executions, have maintained that they were not involved in the rape and murder, but only disposed of the bodies under orders.

Rajapakse told the court that he knew where up to 400 bodies were buried in Chemmani.

“We cannot say exactly who the perpetrators are yet, but the finger points to the [state] army,” said Brito Fernando, an activist working with the families of people who disappeared during various armed conflicts in Sri Lanka.

The area, including the cremation ground, were under Sri Lankan military control from 1996, when it captured Jaffna from the rebels, until after the war ended in 2009. The military operated checkpoints, and anyone who entered or left the area was searched.

In 1999, Rajapakse led police to a spot where the schoolgirl, her family and the neighbor were buried and later showed police other places where more remains were found. But the investigations were abruptly stopped.

Families want closure
Items found at the site were publicly displayed earlier this month in the hope that their owners would be identified, and many people from surrounding villages and beyond visited the site.

Amalanathan Mary Calista, whose husband has been missing since 1996 when the military arrested him in their village, said she hoped seeing proof that her husband was dead would bring a sense of closure.

“I went there hoping to see at least his clothes. There was a sarong (clothing that wraps around the waist) but it wasn’t my husband’s. He was wearing a blue sarong at the time. It was disappointing,” she said.

“I only saw the clothing of little children,” she added, as she wept.

She said her husband is among 24 people who never returned home after the military searched their village. Families had tried to block the army vehicles from taking away the detained people, but the authorities pushed them aside with guns and the vehicles sped away, she said.

“My wish is that he should be alive and return, but we can do nothing if it is not so,” she said.

“The state army arrested him. They must say that they arrested him and that he died at their hands. They also must pay us compensation,” she said.

Woman recalls military taking her brother and husband away
Sivanathan Selvamalar said she watched her younger brother being loaded into a military truck blindfolded during that same raid. Years later, in 2009, her husband was also detained at a checkpoint. He called her to tell her of his arrest and was not heard from again.

“We went to see the things, thinking they may have buried people who were arrested around this area, but we saw only the things of little children,” she said.

“We have checked all the prisons but have not found them. When we are told that more than 100 skeletons have been dug out, we fear the worst,” she added.

No children listed in missing person reports
A 2003 report by Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission said it investigated 281 complaints of missing persons from 1990 to 1998. Of these, three were found in prisons and later released, while the rest are still unaccounted for. The report said the military was responsible for 243 cases, while the Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for 25. The responsibility for 10 others is unknown.

No children were listed as missing.

Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, the editor of the only newspaper in the region at the time, said several families returned to Jaffna after fleeing into rebel-held territory as the military moved in. Some reportedly went missing after being stopped at checkpoints set up to look for infiltrating rebels, he said.

Calls for DNA analysis
Although previous investigations stalled, there is hope now that victims will be identified, Fernando said. But he said the government must do more to conduct a credible investigation.

“We don’t have proper guidelines to investigate the mass graves and have no DNA bank to help with identification,” said Fernando, adding that the government should fund a DNA bank and enlist international support in the identification of victims.

“Only a proper investigation by the government can free its military from suspicion,” he said.

Any direct probe into the military would likely anger Sri Lankan nationalists. Many of the majority ethnic Sinhalese admire the military for winning the civil war.

Excavations will continue for 8 more weeks
Ground-penetrating radar in other parts of the cremation ground has shown “soil anomalies … that are indicative of comparable density of buried skeletal remains,” according to a report submitted in the Jaffna court last week.

The scanned area is three times larger than the site that has been excavated, said Ranitha Gnanarajah, a lawyer monitoring the process. Investigators have requested court approval to continue excavations for eight more weeks, she said.

Army spokesman Brig. Waruna Gamage said no one has formally accused the army of responsibility for the mass grave, and if they did they would need to show proof, he said.

“The excavations are still ongoing and it is a civil matter belonging to the police and courts,” Gamage said. “We will respect the law of the country.”

Government forces and the rebels are both accused of committing atrocities amounting to war crimes in the months leading to the end of the civil war in 2009.

The police said the trawler was stopped by a Sri Lankan Navy patrol boat at a location between Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar for allegedly crossing the IMBL

Four Indian fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu were arrested and their trawler was detained by the Sri Lankan Navy in the late hours of Monday (July 21, 2025).

A total of 88 trawlers ventured into the sea from Rameswaram on Monday. One of them, owned by M. Muniyasamy of Rameswaram, was detained by the Sri Lankan Navy, and the fishermen on board were arrested.

The police said that the trawler was stopped by a Sri Lankan Navy patrol boat at a location between Dhanushkodi and Thalaimannar for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

The four fishermen were identified as M. Thangaraj, 40, T. Lingam, 55, K. Selvam, 50 and N. Irulandi, all natives of Rameswaram. The fishermen, along with their trawler, were taken to the Mannar Navy camp, police sources added.

As many as 26 fishermen from Ramanathapuram district have been arrested and four boats seized since June 17 (end of annual 61-day fishing ban period).

Vasan condemns arrest
Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) president G.K. Vasan on Tuesday condemned the mid-sea arrest of the four fishermen. In a statement, he said recurring arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy have had a severe impact on the livelihood of Tamil Nadu fishermen.

“The Centre should hold talks with the Sri Lankan government to resolve the fishermen issue at the earliest and take immediate steps for the repatriation of the arrested fishermen and their vessels,” he said.

ප්‍රකට නිරූපණ ශිල්පිනී පියුමි හංසමාලිගේ 17 වියැති පුත්‍රයා, පුද්ගලයෙකුට පහරදීමේ චෝදනාවක් මත වැලිකඩ පොලිසිය විසින් අද (13) දින පෙරවරුවේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා ලදී. රාජගිරිය, කලපළුවාව ප්‍රදේශයේදී මෙම පහරදීම සිදුවී ඇති බව පොලිසිය තහවුරු කළේය.

පියුමි හංසමාලිගේ පුත්‍රයා යතුරු පැදියකින් ගමන් ගනිද්දී ත්‍රීරෝද රථයක් හා ඇතිවූ ගැටලුවක් මෙයට මුල්ව ඇත.

යතුරුපැදියක් සහ ත්‍රිරෝද රථයක් අතර හටගත් සුළු රිය අනතුරක් මුල් කරගනිමින් ඇතිවූ බහින්බස් වීම මෙම පහරදීම දක්වා දුරදිග ගොස් ඇති බවට මූලික විමර්ශනවලදී හෙළිවී තිබේ. සැකකරු තවත් පිරිසක් සමග එක්වී ආරක්ෂිත හිස් ආවරණයකින් පහරදුන් බවට පොලිසියට පැමිණිලි ලැබී ඇත.

මෙම පහරදීමෙන් තුවාල ලැබූ ත්‍රිරෝද රථයේ රියදුරු මේ වනවිට රෝහල්ගත කර ප්‍රතිකාර ලබන බව වාර්තා වේ. සිය සැමියාගේ හිසට සහ අතට හිස් ආවරණයකින් දස වතාවක් පමණ පහරදී ඇති බවට ඔහුගේ බිරිඳ මාධ්‍ය වෙත ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබිණි.

අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් සැකකාර තරුණයා අලුත්කඩේ මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණය වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට පොලිසිය කටයුතු කළ අතර, පොලිස් මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක සහකාර පොලිස් අධිකාරී එෆ්. යූ. වුට්ලර් මහතා ද මෙම අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම තහවුරු කළේය.

පසුව, වැඩබලන අතිරේක මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අංක 07 වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව, රුපියල් ලක්ෂ පහක ශරීර ඇපයක් මත සැකකරු මුදා හැරීමට අධිකරණය නියෝග කරන ලදී. සිද්ධියට සම්බන්ධ බව කියන සෙසු සැකකරුවන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සඳහා වැලිකඩ පොලිසිය විසින් වැඩිදුර විමර්ශන ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ඇත.

මේ අතර සිද්ධියෙන් පසු තම පවුලට බලවත් පුද්ගලයින්ගෙන් තර්ජන එල්ලවී ඇතැයි පවසමින් අනතුරට ලක්වූ පුද්ගලයාගේ බිරිය පොලිසියට තවත් පැමිණිල්ලක් එල්ල කර ඇත.සිද්ධිය දුරදිග නොයවන ලෙස තර්ජනාත්මක ඇමතුමකින් දන්වා ඇත. දියනියන් තිදෙනෙකු සිටින තමා එළියට යාමට බියෙන් පසුවන බවද පහර කෑ පුද්ගලයාගේ බිරිය පවසා ඇත.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යතුරුපැදි රියදුරු බලපත්‍රයක් ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා සම්පූර්ණ කළ යුතු අවම වයස අවුරුදු 18 කි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, වයස අවුරුදු 17 සම්පූර්ණ වූ පසු ඉගෙනුම් බලපත්‍රයක් (Learner’s Permit) ලබා ගත හැකි අතර, එමගින් සුදුසුකම් ලත් අයෙකුගේ අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ යතුරුපැදි පැදවීම පුහුණු වීමට අවස්ථාව හිමි වේ.

The arrest was condemned and the Union government was urged to bring a permanent solution to the problem

Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested eight Indian fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and seized a mechanised trawler on charges of poaching in the wee hours of Sunday (June 29, 2025).

According to information available in Rameswaram, the arrested fishermen were being taken to the Naval Port in Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.
Fisheries Department officials said that on Saturday (June 28), tokens were issued to 466 boats. Fishermen from Verkodu, Mandapam and Rameswaram had ventured into the sea and were set to return to shores on Sunday with their catch.

The names of the arrested fishermen were given as S. Jesu (39) (owner and driver), N. Annamalai (55), V. Kalyanaraman (45), S. Syed Ibrahim (35), N. Muneeswaran (35), U. Selvam (29), Gandhivel and one other fisherman. It is said that the fishermen were fishing near Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar during which time, they were arrested by the Lankan Navy personnel.

CM writes to Jaishankar
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote to Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar requesting to ensure the safe repatriation of the arrested fishermen and their fishing boat; and to initiate proactive diplomatic engagement with the Sri Lankan authorities in the handling of fishing-related issues.

“I request your early intervention to ensure the safe repatriation of the apprehended fishermen and their boat. With the annual fishing ban period now concluded and the season having just resumed, our fishermen have returned to sea with hopes of earning a livelihood,” Mr. Stalin said in his letter.

Considering the fishing season has just begun, the Chief Minister urged the Union Ministry for External Affairs to initiate proactive diplomatic engagement with the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure restraint and mutual understanding in the handling of fishing-related issues.

Condemns arrest
As the news about the arrest spread in the coastal habitation, the families expressed concern and shock. “Only on June 15, the two-month annual ban period had ended and our men had just set off into the sea for work this season. To be precise, this is the fourth time, they have gone to sea in the last 12 days. The Sri Lankan Navy had secured our people on false charge,” a fisherman in Rameswaram and Thangachimadam said.

Fishermen association leader J.R. Jesu Raja said the Union government should strongly take up the issue with its counterpart and bring about a permanent solution. “We are tired of agitations and deeply depressed over the state of affairs,” he added.

Antony, a mechanised boat driver in Mandapam said in recent times, the Sri Lankan government imposed hefty fines and also ordered imprisonment under the guise of repeating the offence. The fishermen in the region have been traditionally using the Palk Straits for fishing. “Such attacks showed us in poor light. Our debts are rising. If the governments also remained mute spectators, we have no other option, but to stay away from work,” he added.