Police intelligence officers on Sunday arrested a person who had in his possession three security passes given to intelligence officers deployed for security at the final Asia Cup cricket match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday and a member of a private security firm at the grounds who sold the same security passes to people for Rs. 3,000 each.
They have been handed over to the Maligawatte Police for further investigations.
Along with the normal security procedures for the Asia Cup cricket tournament, authorities had also taken steps to deploy intelligence officers in civilian clothes to boost security measures. A special identification security pass is issued to those intelligence officers on the days of the matches.
The colour of the pass is changed from match to match. It is said that the officials holding this pass have the permission to enter the stadium without any hindrance and go to any section they want. A green identification pass had been issued to the intelligence officers deployed for the security of the Asia Cup finals at the R. Premadasa stadium. An officer of the State Intelligence Service who saw this pass being sold near the main entrance of the stadium by a person not from the intelligence department, caught him and handed him over to an Assistant Superintendent of Police who was on duty in uniform.
At that time, the suspect had three such passes in his possession. The Assistant Superintendent of Police had handed him over to Maligawatte Police. Meanwhile an intelligence officer had listened to a phone call which came to the suspect’s phone while he was being held at the Maligawatte Police station.
The person who made the call from the other end of the phone said that there are five more passes and had asked the suspect come near the gate of the stadium to get the passes.
There, the intelligence officer had taken the suspect who was in custody to the relevant gate. Then it had been revealed that the call was made by an officer of a private security department who was assigned to the security of the stadium. Accordingly, the Police had taken steps to arrest him as well. This security officer is a resident of Kandy. The other person is a resident of the apartment complex opposite the cricket stadium.
The person in custody had said that it was this security officer who gave him the passes.
The Police say that the security officer is not a person who is permanently assigned to the security of the stadium and is a member of a private security company that was used for security work for the Asia Cup tournament. The Police are investigating the incident further.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe