Investigations have revealed that the phone used by a deputy minister in Gampaha to threaten a Minuwangoda businessman and obtain Rs. 25 million from him is a number registered under a ministry.

Chinthaka Perera, the managing director of a private company, lodged the complaint to Minuwangoda police on February 27, and the complaint also mentions the deputy minister s name and the phone number.

Mr. Perera has bought a 25 acre land in Miniuwangoda.

Following this, the deputy minister has called the businessman and demanded Rs. 25 million from him, saying that he too has set his eye on the very land and measures to obtain it had cost him that amount.



Police say that measures are being taken to question the deputy minister in question, after informing the court and obtaining a detailed bill.

There are abductions - it happens, we are conducting investigations

Ajith Rohana

Police Superintendent

Missionariyage redda pallen watuna ekata kiyala thalluwak daganine...

'Law of the jungle'

One of the few parliamentarians who regularly speaks out on human rights issues is Jayalath Jayawardana of the opposition United National Party.

'The human rights situation in Sri Lanka is deteriorating day by day and there is no rule of law in this country,' he told me at his office in Colombo.

'Jungle law is prevailing... Without the protection or blessings of the government in power or the security forces these type of things cannot take place,' he said.

And recent days have seen some unexpectedly revealing remarks from within the government.

An unnamed senior police officer in Colombo told a Sinhala-language newspaper that, as a precaution against possible street protests, 'we have arranged to bring tear gas, and we have plenty of white vans in Sri Lanka'.

And a cabinet minister, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, told the same paper: 'The government should answer for this . They can't say we don't know about it.'

He said the military was getting excessively involved in civil affairs, stopping the country from being democratic and inviting international criticism.

Unusually, last Saturday a man publicly said he had foiled an attempt to abduct him - just weeks after his own brother disappeared.

With the help of a crowd the intended victim, the mayor of a Colombo suburb, Ravindra Udayashantha, confronted the would-be abductors who were in a white van. They were soldiers.

The military denied plans to kidnap anyone.

Whatever the facts behind that incident, the rule of law is being flouted in Sri Lanka and disappearances are continuing.

Sri Lanka's banks urged to limit credit for cars

Sri Lanka's central bank has asked banks to limit credit to buy motor cars, in a bid to reduce imports, as the country faced balance of payments pressure and lost more than a quarter of its foreign reserves.
The Central Bank said vehicle dealers had built up large inventories of cars over the past few months and banks may 'prudently consider the limitation of credit for the import of motor vehicles, which would, in turn, lead to the easing of pressure on import expenditure.'
Spot US dollar was quoted around 124.60/80 rupees in afternoon trade.

Sri Lanka has in the past jacked up taxes on goods considered by rulers and state officials to be 'luxury' for ordinary citizens, including motor cars which they get either completely tax free or at tax-slashed prices.