Wickremasinghe accused found guilty

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 December 1999, 14:36 GMT]
The sensational abduction and extortion trial of Colombo based Aitken and Spence firm director G. C. Wickremasinghe came to an end yesterday with the High Court trial Judge Nimal Dissanayake finding all thirteen accused guilty.

The first accused, Parakrama Ariyasinghe, a former sub inspector of police, the second accused, K. Ranasinghe, a former army soldier and the third accused A. Kaluwarachchy, a former naval officer, were sentenced to 80 years rigorous imprisonment to run consecutively. They were also ordered to pay a fine of four hundred thousand rupees.

The remaining accused were sentenced to 60 years rigorous imprisonment each. They were also ordered to pay a fine of three hundred thousand rupees.

Police escort convicted extortionists. Photo:TamilNet

Additional Solicitor General C. R. de Silva pleaded that all the accused be given the maximum punishment under the Penal code so that it could have a deterrent effect. Mr. de Silva pointed out that the abduction of and extortion from Director Wickremasinghe had a serious impact on the economy when potential investors from abroad showed reluctance to invest in Sri Lanka. That he said was a serious situation.

In this case, which created a stir in the Sri Lankan private sector, the thirteen accused were tried for the abduction and extortion of 20 million rupees from Director Wickremasinghe on March 30, 1999.