Deputy Inspector General of Police for Kurunegala Kithsiri Jayalath has finally been transferred out of his station by the National Police Commission in the context of on-going investigations into the alleged ‘frame-up’ of Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen the surgeon who suffered arrest and a welter of damaging media hype over allegations of covert sterilisation of women. DIG Jayalath has now been transferred to Puttalam with immediate effect, the Police Commission announced yesterday.
The DIG and other officials in Kurunegala subsequently came under investigation when it was found that the allegations made against the once-popular doctor and surgeon of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital had yet to be substantiated.
Acting Secretary to the NPC, Nishantha Weerasinghe told the Daily News that when the Commission met on Thursday, it had decided to transfer Kurunegala’s top cop.
The Commission had earlier decided on the transfer but later suspended that decision on the grounds that the DIG might be needed for the ongoing investigations into his actions. “It was temporarily halted as the NPC felt his transfer at the time would cause issues to the case. But the transfer to Puttalam has been approved and will be with immediate effect when the Inspector General of Police sends out the message.”
The previous decision to transfer of DIG Jayalath to Trincomalee was suspended since the Commission felt that his transfer may hamper ongoing investigations and give rise to ‘more issues’ in an already complicated case. Last week, despite the fact that Acting IGP C.D Wickremaratne had approved the transfer of DIG Jayalath over his involvement in the arrest of Dr. Shafi, it was halted summarily by the NPC. It was reported that the IGP had ordered the transfer considering a request from the Criminal Investigation Department which was investigating the Dr. Shafi case.
Shafi had earlier been arrested by the Kurunegala Police over allegations of acquiring assets in a suspicious manner. It is reported that the DIG is also facing allegations of having provided information to the media without consulting the IGP.
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