Youth abduction case to be taken up on September 6
The case filed against 14 accused including former Navy Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda over the abduction and disappearance of 11 youths in Colombo and its suburbs in 2008 and 2009 was yesterday fixed for September 6 by the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar.
The case was taken up before the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar Bench comprising Colombo High Court Judges Champa Janaki Rajaratne, Amal Ranaraja and Navaratne Marasinghe.
The State Counsel appearing for the Attorney General informed Court that a writ petition had been filed by accused former Navy Commander
Wasantha Karannagoda, alleging that the manner in which the charges had been filed against him was illegal and that the case was still pending.
Accordingly, the State Counsel requested Court to summon the case at another date.The Trial-at-Bar Bench ordered the case to be taken up again on September 6.
At a previous occasion, indictments consisting of 667 counts under the Penal Code were served on 13 accused except former Navy Commander Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda.
Other thirteen accused are Navy officers D.K.P.Dasanayake, Sampath Munasinghe, Sumith Ranasinghe, Dilanka Senaratne, Nalin Prasanna Wickremasuriya, Anton Fernando, Rajapaksha Pathirannehelage Kitsiri, Aruna Thushara Mendis, Kathriarachchilage Gamini alias Ampara Gamini, Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias Navy Sampath, Upul Chaminda alias Annachchi, Nandapriya Hettihendi and Sampath Janaka Kumara alias Podi Kumara were present in Court .
The Attorney General maintained that information has exhibited that the accused have committed punishable offences which come under Section 102, 113 A, 356, 338, 333, 198, 372, 32 and 296 of the Penal Code in respect of conspiracy, abduction with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person, wrongful confinement for the purpose of confinement, conspiracy to extort, extortion, giving false information and conspiracy to commit murder.
Those abducted and murdered were S.A. Leon Stanley, Roshan Leon Stanley, John Reed, Thiyagaraja Jhegan, Rajiv Naganadan, Ramalingam Thilakeshwaran, Pradeep Vishvanadan, Mohammed Saajith, Mohammed Dilan, Kasthuri Arachchilage Anthony and Mohammed Anwar Mubarak.