The Sri Lanka government has obtained a tusker to Sri Dalada Maligawa on 2007, as a donation from Myanmar, but not as a transaction, said Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara,Diyawadana Nilame of Sri Dalada Maligawa.
He made this special statement from Australia, while refuting allegations regarding a tusker being purchased by the Sri Dalada Maligawa from Myanmar government in 2007.
Further speaking he said that the price was quoted on documents as to give a value for the donation done my Myanmar government.
Former Customs Director Samantha Gunasekara while making a complaint to Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera alleged that Rs.261, 592,500 was vested in purchasing the tusker from Myanmar.
Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera appointed retired Supreme Court Justice Nimal Edward Dissanayke in 2015 to report on the allegations of corruption in the registration and issuing of licenses for elephants and permits under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
However the one-man committee, which probed corruption in the registration and issuing of licenses of elephants, found that a corruption has taken place while the tusker was being imported from Myanmar.
