4 May 2023 09:14 am Views - 159
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
Former Parliamentarian J. Sri Ranga was yesterday granted bail after being produced before Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court regarding the investigations over the incident of setting fire to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo.
Sri Ranga was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs.Rs.20,000 with a Rs. 5 million surety bail by Acting Magistrate Bandara Ilangasinghe.
The CID had named Sri Ranga as a suspect alleging that he had actively participated in a protest near President’s private residence on July 9 last year and aided and abetted to damage the property after being a member of an unlawful assembly. The CID further alleged that the suspect could be also charged for criminal trespassing with the intention of committing mischief to the property.
However, Defence counsel argued that his client has been named as a suspect by CID while he was discharging his duty as a journalist.
The Court had earlier issued an order directing the Prison Authorities to produce J. Sri Ranga before Court regarding this incident. A group of protesters had torched President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence on July 9, last year causing extensive damages to the property.
Former MP J. Sri Ranga was in remand custody for allegedly influencing the witnesses of a fatal traffic accident in Vavuniya in 2011.