A short note about the former Senior Superintendent of the police<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“…Shani Abeysekera is investigate whatever he wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Non-governmental organizations in this country do not question about<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it. Those who fought the war, the navy commander, the intelligence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
department, are going to put me in jail. Not only that, how can those<\/p>\n\n\n\n
guys say my name? Officials and non-governmental organizations who<\/p>\n\n\n\n
insisted, they do not question them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On November 24, 2019, Miltary Nandasena Gotabaya went before a group<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of Buddhist clergies and expressed the above views against the former<\/p>\n\n\n\n
director Shani Abeysekara who was investigating Gotabaya’s crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that time Senior Superintendent of Police Shani Abeysekera was the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He was<\/p>\n\n\n\n
investigating the murder of Wasim Thajudeen, the abduction and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
disappearance of 11 students in Colombo and suburbs with the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
expectation of extortion, the disappearance of journalist Prageeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eknaligoda, the murder of businessman Shyam by DIG Vas Gunawardena and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a number of controversial crimes happened in Sri Lanka during military<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nandasena Gotabaya was the defense secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera had arranged to record the statements from Military<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nandasena, Deshbandu Tennakoon in charge of Western Province and a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
group of VIP’s attached with military Gotabaya and about his crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera was removed from the post of Director of the Criminal<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigation Department and appointed as Personal Assistant to the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DIG of Galle within 48 hours of military Gotabaya Nandasena who won<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the presidential election held in November 2019 being sworn in as the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following that Shani Abeysekera was suspended from work and even after<\/p>\n\n\n\n
three years of his suspension, no charge sheet was levelled against<\/p>\n\n\n\n
him. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal then ordered the authorities<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to pay Shani Abeysekera’s due wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera was arrested on July 31, 2020, a few days before the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
August 2020 general election, and he was arrested by the Colombo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crimes Division under the supervision of Senior DIG Deshabandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tennakoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera contracted Kovid while he was incarcerated on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
suspicion and had a cardiac arrest but he was not given proper<\/p>\n\n\n\n
treatment in the prison. After that, he underwent a heart surgery and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
following the heart surgery, he was taken back to prison without being<\/p>\n\n\n\n
allowed to receive in house treatment under medical supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following all these hindrances it was revealed that it was the need of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the state authorities to put Shani Abeysekara’s life at risk. The<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Association of Young Journalists who paid attention to this organized<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a public petition to provide security to Shani Abeysekera in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During that time, President Military Nandasena appointed a anti<\/p>\n\n\n\n
political revenge commission chaired by retired judge Upali Abeyrathne<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the commission recommended the release of the criminals arrested<\/p>\n\n\n\n
under the supervision of Shani Abeysekera and prosecution before the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
courts after 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gampaha High Court judge refused to grant bail to Shani<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abeysekera, who had been imprisoned on suspicion for more than 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n
months. His wife filed a revised petition to the Court of Appeal to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
grant bail. The Court of Appeal, which considered the petition,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ordered that all the charges brought against Shani Abeysekera are<\/p>\n\n\n\n
fabricated and false, and that he should be released on bail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the court order, Shani Abeysekera was granted bail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera retired from the police in June 2021 and payment of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his pension was suspended without any investigation. After the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
retirement of Shani Abeysekera, on 31st June 2021, Senior DIG<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deshbandu published a hateful post against Shani Abeysekera through<\/p>\n\n\n\n
his Facebook account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shani Abeysekera joined the Sri Lanka Police as a Sub Inspector on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10\/02\/1986. According to the special request of the then Deputy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspector General of Criminal Investigation Department, he has served<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in various positions in the elite security section of the Police<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Special Task Force of the Presidential Security Division during his 34<\/p>\n\n\n\n
years of service in the police service before being appointed to that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
department. After the 2019 presidential election, he was appointed as<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department and was<\/p>\n\n\n\n
transferred as Personal Assistant to the DIG of Galle on 21\/11\/2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his more than 34 years of service, Shani Abeysekera was<\/p>\n\n\n\n
actively involved in investigating a number of high-profile cases,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
including the attempted assassination of former President Chandrika<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bandaranaike in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LTTE attack on Katunayake International Airport in 2001, the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
killing of Yvonne Johnson in Royal Park in 2005, the abduction and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
disappearance of 11 youths by Naval Intelligence in 2008-2009 under<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the guidance of navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, the double murder<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of Angulana in 2009, the kidnapping of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in 2010 are some of them. Furthermore, Shani Abeysekera was awarded a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
certificate of appreciation by the Secretary of the International<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police in appreciation of the investigation into the Easter Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n
bombing. He was the chief prosecution witness in over 100 cases,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
including over 20 murder cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n