A five-member Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team has travelled to the United Kingdom to investigate the authenticity of an invitation letter allegedly issued by the University of Wolverhampton to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, the visit has proceeded without the knowledge or instructions of the Attorney General (AG).
The Sunday Times learns that the Attorney General’s Department had been kept completely unaware of the CID team’s visit, and senior CID officers in charge of the investigation had not sought any guidance or approval from the AG prior to the team’s departure.
The delegation—led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and comprising an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), a Chief Inspector (CI), and two junior officers—left for the UK earlier this week on a five-day mission.
Sources within the AG’s Department revealed that its top officials, including Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe, Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, and Deputy Solicitor General Wasantha Perera, had no knowledge that a CID team was being dispatched to the UK. According to the sources, the CID had independently made the decision to send the officers without notifying the Department.
The CID team is scheduled to record a statement tomorrow from former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK, Saroja Sirisena. Ms. Sirisena served as High Commissioner in September 2023, when then-President Wickremesinghe travelled to the UK to attend a graduation ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton, during which his wife, Prof. Maithree Wickremasinghe, received an honorary professorship.
Ms. Sirisena, who continues to reside in the UK, has been instructed to appear at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to provide her statement.
Mr. Wickremesinghe has been charged with misusing Rs. 16.6 million in public funds during the two-day trip, which the CID maintains was a private visit. He was arrested in August this year in connection with the incident, briefly remanded, and later released on bail.
