Borella Grenade Probe : Retired Doctor Arrested

COLOMBO (News 1st): Sri Lanka Police arrested a doctor over the discovery of a hand grenade at the All Saints' Church in Borella, recently.

According to Sri Lanka Police, 5 people were detained so far over the ordinance discovery on the 11th of January 2022.

The Colombo South Crimes Division had arrested the doctor on the 17th of January and handed him over to the Colombo Crimes Division on Wednesday (19).

The doctor who was arrested in the father of Oshala Herath, a well-known social activist and UNP Candidate for the previous general election.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday (19) Herath detailed the ordeal that he and his father had to go through during the arrest.

"A large team entered the house and opened all the doors and windows while ordering my and my father to be seated. My father was a government doctor, who is now retired at the age of 75," he said.

He said that the officers who entered his residence ordered his 11-year-old son and two workers to remain in the kitchen area, and ordered his wife and sister to return to their rooms.

"During their search, they took away our mobile phones and electronic devices. In my room, they found a toy gun used by my son. They seized it. 15 years ago, I used to collect air rifles, and there were four. They took away them as well. Thye also took away two souvenirs as well," said Herath.

Oshala Herath also noted that he was denied an opportunity to visit his father, detained by police.

On the 13th of January 2022, two days after the discovery of a grenade at the church premises, the Head of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo said the discovery of a hand grenade at a Colombo Church is a conspiracy.

He flayed Sri Lanka Police over its handling of the investigation adding that authorities were presented a cooked-up story instead of revealing the truth.

His Eminence said detectives have only examined CCTV footage recorded from 3 PM the day the grenade was discovered and not from the morning, adding that morning footage clearly shows a man acting in a suspecting manner.

“We can see that instead of finding out the truth, they are doing this to create a story. We reject the conduct of the police. I see this as a conspiracy.” he added.