A Colombo court has ordered that former MP Patali Champika Ranawaka’s mobile phone be produced before the court on April 29, Senior Superintendent of Police Lalith Rohana Gamage announced at a media briefing on Friday.
SSP Gamage said the phone is to be taken into custody in connection with a case being heard in the High Court. The Witness and Victim Protection Division had received a complaint of witness intimidation, prompting an investigation.
During the examination of a phone belonging to a previously arrested suspect, investigators discovered evidence of deleted WhatsApp exchanges between that suspect and Ranawaka’s number. The deleted messages are now considered vital evidence in the ongoing proceedings.
An earlier attempt to obtain the device failed after Ranawaka refused to hand it over, SSP Gamage said. However, the former minister later appeared before a magistrate and agreed to present the phone on the specified date.
The phone will be forwarded to the Government Analyst’s Department to recover the deleted evidence for the investigation.
Ranawaka, a former senior minister under previous governments and a member of the NDF opposition coalition, has been a prominent political figure for decades. He previously served as the energy policy critic who challenged electricity tariff hikes and has been vocal on economic and governance issues.
The case adds to a growing list of accountability proceedings involving former lawmakers, alongside the CIABOC compliance requirements for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Airbus bribery case.
