Complaint to CID against Ashen to reveal how 4 lorries became 45 tons of Dubai aid.

Today, a complaint was lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department regarding an alleged financial irregularity concerning a consignment of aid collected from Dubai for the Sri Lankan people affected by Cyclone Ditwa. A large number of Sri Lankans working in areas such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, and Ras Al Khaimah contributed to this aid collection project, which was spearheaded by social media activist Ashen Senaratne.

The group "SL Writers" in Dubai and the company "Ceylon Royal Cargo" were directly involved in this effort, and the cargo company offered to transport the goods free of charge.

Although it was publicized via social media that approximately forty-five (45) tons of aid had been collected through this project, the complaint reveals that only a limited amount of aid, equivalent to four lorry loads, was received by the Disaster Management Centre in Sri Lanka. Officials at the Disaster Management Centre have confirmed that they received only approximately 160 cartons. The complainants point out a serious discrepancy between the reported large quantity of 45 tons of aid collected and the amount actually received in Sri Lanka.

It is also alleged that neither the relevant cargo company nor Ashen Senaratne submitted essential documents such as Bills of Lading or HDL when sending this consignment of goods to Sri Lanka. It has been observed that these goods were sent not as Full Container Load (FCL) but under the Less than Container Load (LCL) method. For this reason, it is suspected that when the containers were cleared from the port, they were not directly sent to the Disaster Management Centre but were taken to a third-party warehouse where the containers were opened and the goods separated.

The complainants state that the Sri Lanka Customs released these containers without proper inspection, and there is reasonable suspicion as to whether this method was misused to import other prohibited goods (such as cigarettes, alcohol, or gold) under the guise of disaster relief. The absence of video evidence showing how the goods were loaded in Dubai or unloaded at the relevant third-party location in Sri Lanka has further intensified this suspicion.

The complaint emphasizes that justice must be served for this humanitarian donation made by Sri Lankan migrant workers in Dubai, who spent a portion of their salaries, and what happened to the missing aid consignment must be immediately revealed. The Criminal Investigation Department was requested to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the responsible parties, including Chaminda Vidanagamage, the owner of Ceylon Royal Cargo, and Ashen Senaratne, who spearheaded the project, and to ascertain why customs officials released these goods without inspection.