Avant Garde vessel released on Rs 35 million bond

The Galle Magistrate’s Court today ordered the release of the Avant Guard vessel, which was anchored in the Galle harbour, on a Rs 35 million bond. 

The vessel will be released to the Sri Lanka Shipping Company, according to Ada Derana reporter.

The ship was taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Navy in October last year. Officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) boarded the vessel ‘MT Avant Garde’ after obtaining a court order from the Galle Magistrate’s Court on October 17, 2015.  

Investigations into the vessel, which was under the custody of the Sri Lanka Navy, were hand over to the CID after the navy lodged a complaint with the Galle Harbour Police. 

The navy had previously stated that nearly 900 firearms including T56 rifles and around 200,000 bullets were found onboard the arms ship. The vessel which had entered Sri Lankan waters on October 05 was taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Navy allegedly due to a contradiction in the information given by the captain of the ship. 

The navy had carried out preliminary inquiries on the ship and handed a report to the Defence Secretary.