Former Minister and Anuradhapura District Organiser of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Duminda Dissanayake, has been remanded until 29 May following his arrest yesterday (23 May).

He was produced before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, which ordered his remand custody in connection with an investigation led by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). 

The investigation pertains to the ownership of a gold-plated T-56 assault rifle discovered at a prominent apartment complex in Havelock Town on Tuesday (20 May).

According to police, the former minister was reportedly arrested at a residence in Thimbirigasyaya last morning (23).

The gold-plated T-56 assault rifle was discovered inside a woman’s travel bag at the apartment complex.

A complaint was made via the ‘119’ police emergency hotline, stating that an elderly woman was seen carrying what appeared to be a T-56 assault rifle towards the apartment complex. Security personnel at the complex were informed accordingly.

Officers, including the Officer-in-Charge of the Wellawatte Police Station, visited the location and discovered the firearm during their inspection.

The relevant security officer revealed that, when questioned about the firearm, the two women claimed it had been in the back of a luxury vehicle and that they had taken it, assuming it was a toy gun.

Subsequently, police questioned and arrested the two women – a 69-year-old Sri Lankan woman and her niece, a Kazakh national – and later obtained detention orders to hold the pair for questioning until Friday (23 May).

Accordingly, police launched an investigation using CCTV footage from areas the suspects had travelled through in the vehicle.

The footage revealed that the two women were seen carrying the bag containing the T-56 rifle out of their residence at the apartment complex.

Police later inspected the other woman’s residence in Pelawatte and escorted her, along with the vehicle used to transport the firearm, to the Wellawatte Police Station.

During questioning, the women told police that someone may have placed the firearm inside the vehicle while the doors were left unlocked.

Nevertheless, both women were taken into custody, along with the vehicle, on suspicion of possessing and concealing a T-56 assault rifle.

The investigation was subsequently handed over to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), and inquiries are ongoing.