Mr. Shani Abeysekara, who served as the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from September 2017, was removed from the position after Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 and was transferred as the Assistant DIG in charge of the Galle District.
Many believed the move was politically motivated and viewed it as an act of political revenge against him.
The actions against Mr. Abeysekara did not end there. In January 2020, he was suspended from duty based on an audio recording involving Ranjan Ramanayake.
Later, in August 2020, Mr. Abeysekara was arrested and remanded for ten months.
He was subsequently granted bail by the Court of Appeal.
Following this, investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department, the Colombo Crimes Division, and the Police Special Investigation Unit cleared Mr. Abeysekara of all charges.
Accordingly, the National Police Commission also took steps to pay his outstanding salary arrears.
Mr. Abeysekara later filed an appeal before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal over the National Police Commission’s failure to promote him to the position of Deputy Inspector General within the stipulated timeframe.
After a lengthy hearing, the tribunal delivered its decision today, ordering the National Police Commission to promote Mr. Shani Abeysekara to the post of Deputy Inspector General with effect from August 25, 2020.
