Date: 10th July 2026
Case No: HC (TAB) 2972/21
Court: Special Permanent Three-Judge High Court (Trial-at-Bar)
Venue: Supreme Court Temporary Building
The witness PW-13, SI Chanaka Madushan testified that he had been attached to the TID from February 2018 until 2021 and had served in Investigation Unit No. 2, which handled the investigation concerning the 12th Accused. He stated that he had recorded statements from the 12th Accused and had accompanied the accused to identify the locations during the investigation. According to the witness, the 12th Accused made his statements voluntarily, without hesitation or coercion, and there had been no necessity to threaten or influence him. He further stated that he had met the father, mother, wife and uncle of the 12th Accused at the TID Headquarters but had never discussed obtaining a statement from the accused with them. He denied that either the accused or his family had ever complained of threats or intimidation by him. He also denied meeting either the 12th Accused or his family on 9 November 2019, and stated that the statements of the accused had been recorded in the Sinhala language. He further testified that Officer Ashoka had never participated in the investigation of the 12th Accused.
During cross-examination by Mrs. Niroshan Siriwardena, learned Counsel for the 12th Accused, the witness admitted that suspects were provided lunch during the recording of statements and that recording ordinarily stopped during the lunch and put notes regarding that in the statement. He further confirmed that statements were normally typed by another officer. However, he denied suggestions that the 12th Accused had been forced to sign pre-typed statements, that the accused was unable to read or write Sinhala, or that the endorsements stating the statements had been “read over” indicated an inability to read Sinhala. He also denied allegations that the accused had been tortured from the time of arrest. The witness further rejected suggestions that on 9 November 2019 he had met the family members of the 12th Accused, provided them with his telephone number, inquired about the age of the accused’s child, or informed them that the accused would only receive assistance if he gave a statement. He denied threatening to arrest the accused’s family members if a statement was not given, denied producing the accused before ASP Bimshani, and denied scolding the accused on 1 November 2019 for refusing to make a statement on that day.
The 9th Accused, appearing in person, thereafter cross-examined the witness and established that superior officers such as SSPs and ASPs regularly visited the TID. The witness unaware that that the 12th Accused had requested to meet a superior officer and denied influencing him while recording statements. The 11th Accused, also appearing in person, briefly questioned the witness regarding investigations into the Tropical Inn incident, to which the witness replied that he had participated in such investigations.
During re-examination, the witness confirmed that the TID had facilities to provide translators for suspects unable to understand Sinhala and again denied meeting the 12th Accused or his family members on 9 November 2019. His evidence then concluded.
Giving evidence the witness PW-14, Police Sergeant Ruwan Chaturanga (No. 67201) stated that he had not personally investigated the 12th Accused and had been attached to TID Investigation Unit No. 1. He denied ever threatening or influencing the accused to make a statement. He further testified that he had been deployed on official duty at Pallekele from 7 November to 12 November 2019, and therefore had not been present at the TID on 09th of November 2019.
During cross-examination by Counsel for the 18th Accused, the witness denied the suggestion that the 18th Accused had not been detained at the TID in 2019.
Counsel for the 12th Accused thereafter elicited that TID Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 were situated on the same floor and that the witness knew Officers Athapaththu, Dharmapriya, and Madushan. The witness denied allegations that he had gone together with Officer Dharmapriya to where the 12th Accused had been sleeping on 29 April 2019, that he had assaulted the accused on that date, or that together with Officers Athapaththu and Dharmapriya he had assaulted the accused on 5 May 2019.
The witness PW-12, Police Constable Sasitha Bandara Athapaththu (No. 63480) testified that he had served in the TID since 2008 and had typed five statements made by the 12th Accused in Sinhala under the instructions of SI Chanaka Madushan. He denied obtaining the accused’s signature on any pre-typed document or procuring signatures by force.
During cross-examination from the counsel of 12th accused, he confirmed that he had typed five statements of the accused. Counsel suggested that he merely typed whatever SI Chanaka Madushan instructed and that the 12th Accused had not even been present while the statements were typed. The witness denied these allegations. He also denied that the accused was unable to read or write Sinhala, stating that in some instances the accused read the statements himself, while in other instances they were read over to him.
The 9th Accused, appearing in person, thereafter cross-examined the witness. The witness denied having observed the proceedings in open court before giving evidence. He acknowledged that the 12th Accused had corrected typing mistakes and that the statements had been read by or read over to the accused but admitted that he could not specifically identify the 12th Accused in court. He denied the allegation that he was giving false evidence. Following re-examination, his evidence concluded.
The witness PW-22, Police Officer Ajith Dayananda Adhikari had submitted the further report in Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court Case No. B/917/02/19 relating to the Dehiwala Tropical Inn bombing. The further report was marked as 12-VD-9. The witness explained that the report concluded there was no direct or indirect connection between the accused in that case and the Tropical Inn incident. Consequently, those accused, including the 15th Accused in that case (the present 12th Accused), were discharged from the Mount Lavinia proceedings, subject to separate proceedings being instituted before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court concerning the Easter Sunday attacks. He stated that the relevant Colombo Magistrate’s Court case against the present 12th Accused was Case No. 15764/08/19.
During cross-examination, counsel for the 12th Accused requested the witness to read the final paragraph on the second page of document 12-VD-9, after which the cross-examination concluded.
The witness PW-16, Retired Inspector Nandana Dharmapriya formerly attached to TID Investigation Unit No. 3 testified that he had not participated in any investigation concerning the 12th Accused and therefore could not identify him. He denied ever assaulting the accused, obtaining statements or signatures by force, or receiving complaints relating to assaults on suspects.
During cross-examination, counsel for 12th accused suggested that on 29 April 2019 the witness and Police Sergeant Ruwan Chaturanga had assaulted the 12th Accused and poured water on the place where the accused had been sleeping. The witness denied both allegations.
Following this evidence, the prosecution formally closed the voir dire inquiry. Prosecution has marked N-1 to N-10, and the court fixed 24 July 2026 for the filing of written submissions.
The prosecution recalled the witness PW-2119, Upul Lakshantha Ratnayake, the officer who had recorded the confessionary statement of the 18th Accused. The court observed that, following the determination of the voir dire inquiry, it had already ruled that the confessionary statement of the 18th Accused had been made voluntarily. The statement, which had previously been marked temporarily as R-1 due to an objection by the 12th Accused, was formally admitted in evidence as P-807. The witness thereafter identified and marked the relevant portions of the confessionary statement as P-807(1) to P-807(16).
During cross-examination, the witness admitted that he had not independently verified the truth of the contents of the statement. A Sinhala portion reading “ඊට පස්සේ, මට ඒ කටිය එක්ක සම්බන්ධයක් තිබ්බෙ නෑ.” was marked as 18-D-1, while pages 234–333 of the statement were marked as 18-D-2.
The court directed PW-1049 and PW-1050 to appear on 14 July 2026, while PW-1566, PW-1567, PW-1541, PW-1542, and PW-1524 were ordered to appear on 15 July 2026.
Thereafter, the prosecution and the defence jointly tendered a series of admissions under Section 420 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The admitted material consisted primarily of DNA reports and CCTV footage relating to the Easter Sunday suicide bombers including Alauddin Ahmed Muwad, Mohamed Hasthun, Mohamed Zaharan, Ilham Mohamed, Mohamed Mubarak, Inshaf Ahmed, Mohamed Nassar Mohamed Asad, Abdullah Latheef Jameel, Mohamed Rilwan, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Seini, Ahamadu Lebbe Mohamed Niyas.
These admitted documents contained 41 pages and materials were marked collectively as P-920 to P-968(A).
At the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, the case was adjourned and fixed for 13th July 2026 for the continuation of the trial
