A man who had claimed to be a driver of a ‘white van’ used to abduct people and another person who claimed to have been a victim of a ‘white van’ abduction, have been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Both suspects had appeared at a media conference organised by former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, ahead of the Presidential election.
At the press conference held on 10 November, former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne was present with Douglas Anthony Fernando, who claimed to drive the white vans, and another individual, Athula Sanjaya Madanayake, who was allegedly the victim of an attempted abduction.
Fernando told the media that the abductions and murders that took place during the Rajapaksa regime prior to 2015 were allegedly carried out in accordance with the orders of then Defence Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
He had claimed that those who were abducted were subjected to serious harassment and torture and were later killed in torture houses located in various parts of the country.
Fernando had claimed that one such site was in the Monaragala area where dead bodies of victims would be thrown into a nearby reservoir filled with crocodiles.
Madanayake disclosed to the media that he had been abducted in a white van in October 2013 in the Ragama area for stealing gold and money being brought to Colombo in a bus from Jaffna.
Courtesy: Colombo Gazette
