Weapons and ammunitions collected by DIG Vaas from police dept.

not returned; has given arms training to underworld criminals

(Lanka-e-News20.June.2013, 11.30PM) The murderer cum extortionist DIG Vaas Gunawardena had been responsible for the loss of a large quantity of weapons and ammunition belonging to the police . He had either sold or used them for his criminal activities by supplying them to the underworld criminals. The latter had also been given training in weaponry to underworld criminals at the police weaponry training ground itself, according to information reaching Lanka e news inside information division. Since the time Vaas was an SSP until the time of his arrest as DIG Peliyagoda , 9 firearms, mini ooshi bullets , 360 T 56 bullets, 150 bullets (three boxes) of 9 m.m. pistols which were taken and kept in his possession have gone missing.

He had collected them from time to time citing the ground that they are for the special security division under him , but what truly happened to them is still not known. In the registers (arms and Amo register ) of the Galle police headquarters , the weapons and ammunitions taken by Vaas Gunawardena when he was the SSP at Galle are recorded as follows : 4 mini ooshi weapons 2 T 56 weapons 3 Pistols 80 T 56 bullets 50 9 m.m. pistol bullets The registers clearly state that these weapons and ammunitions were allocated to Vaas Gunawardena by the special security division. Though he was transferred to Ratnapura he had not returned these weapons. Under the law , when a police officer is transferred to another region , it is mandatory that he hands over the weapons , and takes them back if needed , after he goes to the new station. The personal pistol and bullets thereof are of course an exception to that rule. At Ratnapura , he had taken another 30 bullets ( 9 m.m. pistol) . Subsequently when he came to the DIG office . Peliyagoda of north western division after being promoted as DIG, he had not returned the arms and ammunitions mentioned hereinbefore . Meanwhile , he had also collected a number of weapons and ammunitions stating that they for his security division. This collection is recorded in the arms and amo register as follows : 4 T56 weapons 4 Browning pistols 50 mini ooshi bullets In addition he had collected arms and ammunitions without making a record of them in the registers. It is the duty of a police officer to return the firearms , and those used in an operation .They should also be recorded duly prior to that. In other words Vaas had been shamelessly , unscrupulously and surreptitiously stealing firearms and ammunition of the very police department where he was holding a most responsible high ranking position . It is a pity that in Sri Lanka (SL) , how many more such high ranking police officers enjoying state patronage are doing this will come to be known only when discoveries are made of their crimes by accident like in this case. The records of these arms and ammunitions ought to be scrutinized by an SSP and reported to a senior DIG every three months who should also examine the records. It is also the duty of a DIG to investigate these records once a year. However , the arms and ammunitions (on record and without record) taken into possession by Vaas Gunawardena are missing .

Among those missing are : mini ooshi bullets ; 360 bullets of T 56 weapons; 150 (three boxes) bullets of 9 m.m. pistols. It is significant to note that no investigation into these arms and ammunitions robbery by a DIG of Sri Lanka , (a rank just below the IGP ) had been instituted. The ASPs and SSPs are passing the ball into each others courts and are taking refuge in procrastination while also trying to point out those records are apparently erroneous , it is learnt. The most vexatious question is , when there is no war in the country what did Vaas do with this huge quantity of arms and ammunitions ? According to the evidence that has surfaced so far , Vaas had either sold them to the underworld criminals or used them for his criminal activities liaising with them. On one occasion when training in weaponry and shooting were being given to the police officers at Katukurunda training ground , Vaas had given training to Kotte Nishantha alias Chakku , an underworld criminal leader and his underworld group after summoning them to that venue. Though the permission of the Director of the police academy and that of the DIG (police higher training) are necessary to give such training , Vaas had taken this underworld team for training stating that the defense Ministry approval has been obtained. The ASP of the STF in charge of the weaponry training when the underworld criminals were trained had made another revelation , that is, Vaas Gunawardena who came there befriended him and that their friendship had continued , and just about two weeks prior to the murder of Shyam , Vaas spoke to him on the phone about 11.00 in the night and had said, there is a body. Can you take it somewhere and demolish it? The ASP had ignored the request. The next vital question that springs up is , who was that individual whose body Vaas referred to? The irony of ironies is , it is Gotabaya , the defense secretary of the country who ought to do everything to apprehend these culprits and bring them to book has supported and safeguarded the criminal DIG who had been involved in so many crimes , and who has been creating an underworld team within the police force . Instead of discharging his own duties duly , this defense secretary or rather criminal offence secretary had halted the investigations into the crimes of the criminal DIG , and thereby prevented unearthing further vital information of the crimes and criminals of Vaas and his accomplices by ordering the CID not to proceed with further investigations into Vaas crimes . Incidentally , the media had reported today that Vaas is to be charged on three counts and only in relation to Shyams murder. Despite there being glaring evidence that S P Wedisinghe aided and abetted Vaas in his crimes , he has not been arrested. Vaas son Ravindhu who based on evidence has also aided in the crimes of his father Vaas had also not been arrested.

 Underworld criminal Kotte Nishantha alias Chakku who is a partner in the crimes of Vaas had not been taken into custody yet. Though there are photographs depicting Vaass son flaunting millions and millions of cash collected via extortions and blood money , no investigation has been launched into his bank accounts . No action had been taken to freeze the accounts of Vaas family with bank balances of many millions of rupees , nor investigation initiated in that direction. Even after it had been revealed that a large quantity of weapons and ammunition in his possession have disappeared unaccounted , his house had still not been searched. May we recall we reported that arms and ammunitions were found hidden in his house from place to place sometime ago. This was based on the information transmitted to us by relatives of his who are eye witnesses. It is well to bear in mind that the police force is not the property of Gotabaya Rajapakse. It is therefore honorable duty and responsibility of the police to inquire into every detail and take stern action against every individual however high in the hierarchy who was running a criminal underworld within the police force. The IGP cannot ignore that responsibility because he is responsible to the nation and not to Gotabaya . The IGP is paid a salary not out of the Medamulana Rajapakses personal funds ; he is paid out of public funds collected or blood sucked by the government via taxes , rates and levies . In the circumstances , the IGP is responsible to the public. Indeed we are revealing these truths because we have a duty by the public , and we know how important they are in their interests . We hope others too will toe our line and think of their responsibilities towards the people and act in the best interests of the public.