• These people had driven on  the expressway at high speed  breaking the speed limit

By Chaturanga Samarawickama  

Wild Life Minister Mahinda Amaraweera yesterday denied social media reports that his son was among the members who drove their vehicles in a reckless manner inside the Yala National Park a few days ago. 

 “My son was very much in Colombo for the last ten days and he had only visited one of our relatives places in Matugama,” the minister told media yesterday.  
The incident occurred on Saturday (22) and 32 jeeps were involved in this illegal activity in the Yala National Park.  

According to the information received, he said these people had driven through the expressway at a high speed while breaking the speed limit rules.  

“As soon as I received the video footages, I was overseas and I first spoke to the IGP and told him to take immediate action against the people who were involved in the incident without considering their status. Later, I spoke to the Ministry Secretary to take legal action against them, after discussion with the Wild Life Director General. Then, I telephoned my son. I confirmed his outings with my personal driver and found out that he had not been anywhere out of Colombo during the last ten days and was not involved in this activity,” Minister Amaraweera said.  

“As soon as the investigations commenced, the CCTV footage relating to the 32 vehicles was collected, and I inquired with the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) about the vehicle registrations. Seven of the jeeps surrendered to the Wild Life Department. It had been reported to the courts. Nine suspects were produced before the courts and later bailed out,” the Minister said.  

The Minister said, a total of 164 jeeps, including 916 individuals, entered the Yala National Park on this day.