CID tells court CCTV footage from surroundings will give clearer picture of what happened

Burning of President’s private residence

By A.J.A. Abeynayake

The CID, on Wednesday, informed Colombo Magistrate, Thilina Gamage, that the damage to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence, after it was torched by a mob on July 09, amounted to Rs. 14 million.

Meanwhile, a bullet-proof official vehicle which Wickremesinghe was using as the Prime Minister at the time had suffered damage amounting to Rs. 191 million, the CID said.

The CID said fingerprints of five suspects matched those found inside Wickremesinghe’s residence. They had been sent to the government analyst, the CID said.

The CID said it had checked the mobile phones of the suspects and found footage and voice recordings that revealed important information about the house being set on fire.

The Magistrate ordered the five suspects remanded till 24 August. He also ordered that CCTV footage from two business places and seven houses near Wickremesinghe’s house be handed over to investigators. The CID has told the court that with the help of the CCTV footage, they would be able to better understand what happened on the night of 09 July, when a group of anti-government protesters entered the private residence of Wickremesinghe and set it on fire. Earlier in the day, protesters had occupied Temple Trees, the President’s House and the Presidential Secretariat.