Colombo High Court Judge Aditya Patabandige halted a trial in the middle of it yesterday (21) and ordered to release an accused charged with trafficking heroin after ruling that the evidence presented in open court by a Special Task Force officer was unreliable and dubious. Jinadari Surangika, a resident of Mount Lavinia,
a mother of three, was ordered to be released by the Colombo High Court. She was charged for allegedly possessing and trafficking more than one gram of heroin When the case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Adithya Patabendige, the Police Officer who allegedly took part in the raid testified before Court.
While testifying she stated that she took part in an operation in the Mount Lavinia region on November 11, 2019, at 6.17 p.m., and that she returned to the headquarters at 2.35 a.m. the following day. Following that, the High Court Judge inquired about the witness’ departure time after the service and examined the attendance list while the witness was testifying. After looking over the attendance records she testified that according to the records she left around 2.03 a.m.
The witness had been inquired whether she had anything to say about recording a contradicting time, but she had remained silent.
Considering the circumstances, the Colombo High Court Judge ordered to dismiss the case at his discretion and determined that the accused was acquitted and released after ruling that the witness’s testimony that she had found heroin in the accused’s possession was false and that continuing the case would be pointless.
