The Talangama Police have summoned a group including Sugeeshwara Bandara — identified by Ada Derana as the leader of the Nava Janatha Peramuna — to record statements over an incident during a protest near the residence of Finance Ministry Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma.
Police said the statements are being recorded in connection with an alleged “feces attack” carried out during the demonstration. The protest was held on April 28 outside the secretary’s home over allegations that US$ 2.5 million from the Treasury had been obtained by hackers.
A tense situation arose at the location after the protesters were targeted in the alleged attack, leading to a confrontation between the demonstrators and others present at the scene, according to the report.
The summons follows the April 28 demonstration in which residents pelted the protesters with cow dung and drove the group off before it could complete its action. Bandara, a former Private Secretary to ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had assembled supporters in the residential Pelawatta area, prompting objections from neighbours who refused to allow a protest outside a private home.
The demonstration was one of several sparked by the Treasury cyber fraud, in which a foreign debt repayment was misdirected after hackers compromised an Australian Export Finance Agency email channel. Investigators have since concluded that almost none of the US$ 2.5 million is recoverable, with just US$ 200 traced to a near-empty account.
