The Mahawa Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday that elephants and tuskers are covered by the Public Property Act, rejecting a defence argument to the contrary and redirecting the prosecution of the men accused of shooting the tusker Kavantissa.
Magistrate Anuruddhika Seneviratne said it was her court’s position that elephants fall within the Act, NewsFirst reported, and directed the Department of Wildlife Conservation to present facts against the suspects under its provisions at the next hearing. Hiru News adds that the court also ordered an assessment report on the animal to be filed.
The two sources describe the Criminal Investigation Department’s new role slightly differently. NewsFirst reports the court ordered the department to hand the investigation over to the CID. Hiru News reports the Galgamuwa wildlife office was told to obtain CID assistance in conducting the complaint. Neither filing resolves the difference.
Bail refused
The magistrate said her court had no authority to grant bail to the two suspects — Skills Development Officer Ratnayake Mudiyanselage Lakmal Padmasiri and Shantha Dharmasiri Ratnayake — and remanded them to 25 November. Defence counsel Udaya Rajapakse had cited Supreme Court precedent in arguing the court could release them on any conditions.
Ballistics ordered
An interim post-mortem report filed by Prof. P.P.M.A. Wijesundara of the University of Peradeniya records three projectiles recovered from the right side of Kavantissa’s abdomen. The magistrate ordered them sent to the Government Analyst to be compared with the two firearms seized from the suspects.
Lawyers Vijitha Wickramanayake and Sandagiri Bandara, appearing for an animal conservation body, told the court that elephants beyond Kavantissa face serious risk, blaming activity by YouTubers pursuing revenue. Rajapakse said the defence objects to wildlife officer Chathura Gunaratne conducting the complaint, as he led the raid and recorded the evidence.
The suspects were first remanded on 19 October.
Update: the Daily Mirror corroborates, a day late
The Daily Mirror filed its own account of the hearing on Thursday morning, leading on the post-mortem finding. It confirms every element above independently: three bullet fragments in the tusker’s abdomen from the interim post-mortem by Prof. P.P.M.A. Wijesundara of the University of Peradeniya, the handover of the investigation to the CID, the direction that evidence be presented under the Public Property Act on the next date, the court’s finding that it had no authority to grant bail under the Act, and the remand to 25 November. It spells the magistrate Anuruddika Seneviratne.
One discrepancy is worth noting: the Daily Mirror’s report, filed on 12 November, says the post-mortem was submitted to court “today” and presents the CID order as made at the same sitting. The hearing took place on Wednesday 11 November, as both NewsFirst and Hiru News reported on the day. The Daily Mirror appears to be filing Wednesday’s proceedings a day late rather than reporting a second sitting; no second hearing is reported anywhere. The substance is unaffected.
The outlet adds no detail the earlier two filings lacked. It does not resolve the hand-over-versus-assist difference between NewsFirst and Hiru News, and it does not report the ballistics order sending the projectiles to the Government Analyst.
Note on the magistrate’s name
Our October reporting, following NewsFirst’s spelling at the time, gave the magistrate’s name as “Anuradha Seneviratne” and used masculine pronouns. Both sources today give Anuruddhika Seneviratne, and NewsFirst refers to “her court”. We have corrected the earlier article.
