The use of two houses in Embilipitiya, allegedly belonging to two drug traffickers, has been suspended following an investigation by the Illegal Assets Investigation Division, NewsFirst reported.
The division put the estimated value of the properties at approximately Rs. 150 million.
The properties
Two parcels of land and the houses on them are covered:
- One acre and two roods at Kawantissapura, Embilipitiya
- 23.7 perches at Bimbaduyaya
Who the case names
The properties are said to belong to two men named as Dinesh Parakrama and Neil Palitha. The division said the suspects are involved in cannabis trafficking.
How the case reached the division
The action follows investigations opened on a complaint lodged by the Senior Superintendent of Police for Embilipitiya. That routing — a territorial police complaint referred upward to the specialist assets unit — is the standard path in these cases, and matches how earlier property seizures in the Ratnapura District and elsewhere have been built.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division has been used repeatedly this year to freeze property rather than pursue narcotics charges alone, including a Rs. 40 million asset case against a Panadura network and luxury buses valued at Rs. 70 million.
What “suspended” means here
NewsFirst describes the properties’ use as suspended rather than seized or forfeited. Suspension orders of this kind are ordinarily interim, restraining the use or disposal of an asset while an investigation proceeds, and typically require a court to extend or convert them. The report does not name the statute relied on, and does not say whether an order was made by a magistrate or by the division itself.
Not reported
NewsFirst did not say when the suspension took effect, how long it runs, or which court, if any, made the order. It did not say whether either man has been arrested, charged or produced before a court, or whether they are in custody. It gave no ages, no addresses beyond the two localities, and did not explain how the Rs. 150 million valuation was arrived at or which of the two properties accounts for the bulk of it.
The report did not say whether the two men are alleged to have operated together, nor what quantity of cannabis is involved.
Readers should note that a separate Rs. 150 million drug-asset freeze reported earlier this year concerned properties at Dewanigoda, Rathgama, and is a different case despite the identical headline figure.
Update, September 7: Ada Derana gives the statute, the term — and a different total
Ada Derana reported the same case later on Monday and answered most of the questions NewsFirst left open — while contradicting it on the headline figure.
The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, following the complaint referred to the division by the Embilipitiya SSP. The division has issued an order freezing the properties for 14 days from September 7. That settles both the statute and the duration, and confirms the order came from the division itself rather than a court.
Ada Derana also gives the split NewsFirst did not:
- Three-storey house on one acre and two roods — approximately Rs. 70 million
- Three-storey house on 23.7 perches — approximately Rs. 60 million
The two land measurements match NewsFirst’s exactly, so the outlets are describing the same two properties. But the localities are rendered differently: Ada Derana places the first in New Town, Embilipitiya where NewsFirst said Kawantissapura, and the second in Bimmbadugoda against NewsFirst’s Bimbaduyaya.
The figures do not agree
Ada Derana puts the total at more than Rs. 130 million — which is what its own breakdown sums to. NewsFirst put it at approximately Rs. 150 million and gave no breakdown. The gap is Rs. 20 million, and neither outlet acknowledges the other’s number. Ada Derana also uses frozen where NewsFirst used suspended, and describes the offence generically as narcotics trafficking rather than cannabis specifically.
Ada Derana does not name either suspect; the names Dinesh Parakrama and Neil Palitha rest on NewsFirst alone. Neither outlet says whether either man has been arrested or produced before a court, or what happens when the 14 days expire.
Update, September 7: Daily Mirror settles the figure — and the localities
A third account, published by Daily Mirror on Monday evening, resolves both open disputes in this story.
On the total, it sides with Ada Derana. Daily Mirror puts the frozen assets at “more than Rs. 130 million,” with the same Rs. 70 million and Rs. 60 million breakdown for the two three-storey houses. Two of the three outlets now give Rs. 130 million, and both of those give a breakdown that sums to it. NewsFirst’s Rs. 150 million stands alone and unexplained.
On the localities, it sides with NewsFirst. Daily Mirror places the Rs. 70 million house on one acre and two roods at Kavanthispura, Embilipitiya — matching NewsFirst’s “Kawantissapura” — and the Rs. 60 million house on 23.7 perches at Bimbaduyaya, New Town. That indicates Ada Derana attached “New Town” to the wrong property; it belongs to the second address, not the first.
Daily Mirror confirms the statute (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), the unit (Illegal Assets Investigation Division), the complaint by the Embilipitiya SSP, and the 14-day term running from September 7, 2026. It uses the term restraining orders, which is more precise than either “frozen” or “suspended,” and says investigations continue into the suspects and the source of the funds used to buy the properties.
Like Ada Derana, Daily Mirror does not name the two men, and none of the three outlets says whether either has been arrested or what happens when the 14 days expire.
