TID squad searches Sritharan MPs office for second time

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 15:31 GMT]
A 6-member team of Sri Lankan ‘Terrorist’ Investigation Department on Tuesday searched the Ki'linochchi office of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Sivagnanam Sritharan for three hours. The TID squad, led by a Inspector ranked officer, Sarach Chandra, was searching the office inch-by-inch and were looking for computers that belonged to the parliamentarian, news sources in Ki'linochchi told TamilNet. When Mr Jeevanayagam Singarasa, who was in charge of the office on Tuesday, questioned the procedure of the TID, he was subjected to ‘interrogation’ for two hours inside the office. The TID inspector, when contacted by Mr Sritharan over telephone told the MP that the search operation was being conducted under the Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The TID squad wanted to check the laptop computer of the parliamentarian and was told that the laptop was with the MP in Colombo.

The TID inspector was insistent on logging on to the computer at the office and took it away amid protests by Mr Singarasa.

When the MP demanded clarification from the TID officer that any such investigation or search on the office of a parliamentarian should be informed in advance, the TID inspector told him to apporach the headquarters of the TID in Colombo for such clarifications.

The MP was also told that his personal secretary, Pon Kanthan, was in the custody of the TID.

The search operation began at 9:45 am went on till 12:50 p.m.

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