'Harak Kata's' father asks Human Rights Commission to protect his son in detention

The father of Nadun Chinthaka Wickramaratne, the remand prisoner known as “Harak Kata”, has written to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka asking it to intervene to protect his son’s life.

Nelson Mervyn Wickramaratne submitted a written complaint stating that there is “a suspicious situation” behind a recent confrontation involving his son that was reported in the media, Hiru News reported. He argued that his son faces a severe risk to his life, aimed at preventing the disclosure of evidence in his possession.

What the letter says

In the letter, addressed to the HRCSL Secretary, Wickramaratne said his son is held in a 10-cell detention facility inside the Welisara Navy Camp alongside three rival underworld figures — Kehelbaddara Padme, Bacco Saman and Panadura Nilanga — men he said have previously faced allegations of attempting to kill his son on court premises, Newswire reported.

He dismissed media reports of a 22 September clash between his son and Padme as false, and said he fears the reported incident is being used to set up a fatal attack. He said his son has a knee injury, walks on crutches, and is held in conditions under which his health has deteriorated.

Wickramaratne further alleged that the threat is tied to his son’s readiness to expose corruption, including claims that two Senior Deputy Inspectors General and six Deputy Inspectors General extorted tens of millions of rupees under the guise of protecting him. He said those disclosures have already been communicated to DIG Shani Abeysekara and to the President.

The letter also stated that despite more than 36 months in detention and what it describes as over 26,000 hours of questioning by the Criminal Investigation Department and the Terrorist Investigation Department, no new case has been filed against his son over drug trafficking or major crime, and that his only active drug charge dates to a 2018 case involving 12 grams.

Context

These are allegations made in a complaint by a family member; none has been tested by the Human Rights Commission or any court, and no response from the police or the Prisons Department has been reported.

The complaint follows the reported altercation at Welisara on 22 September, after which the Prisons Department and the police opened parallel investigations into how the two men were able to cross paths. Harak Kata’s detention has also been the subject of an earlier PTA ruling and a subsequent appeal by the Attorney General.