It was Champika who drove at night - re-revealed in court

The evidence hearing in the case filed against three individuals, including former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, on charges of causing a serious road accident involving a young man named Sandeep Sampath in the Rajagiriya area in 2016, concealing related evidence, and fabricating false evidence, commenced yesterday (05) before Colombo High Court Judge Rashmi Singappuli. The other defendants in this case, filed by the Attorney General, are named as Dilum Thusitha Kumara, the former minister's driver, and Assistant Superintendent of Police Sudath Asmadala, who was then the OIC of Welikada Police.

Deputy Solicitor General Yohan Abeywickrama, leading the prosecution, recorded evidence from the first witness, Gayan Vinodaka. The witness told the court that on the day of the accident, while traveling with a friend on a motorcycle, he saw a smoky area and went towards it. There, he recognized Sandeep, who had been involved in the accident, and immediately took steps to hospitalize him by vehicle. He further stated that subsequently, based on information provided by the people at the scene regarding the vehicle that caused the accident, he chased the relevant jeep on his motorcycle, shouting, and managed to stop it.

The witness described that after stopping the jeep, he went to the passenger side and tried to assault the person in the driver's seat, demanding his identity card and driving license while scolding him. The witness's statement mentioned that the person in the driver's seat at that time was a tall individual wearing sunglasses and a black T-shirt, and that he identified himself as Patali Champika and asked the witness to come with him to the Borella Police Station. The witness stated that he recognized the person as he had frequently seen him on television and in newspapers, and then identified the former minister, who was in the dock in open court, as the person who was in the driver's seat.

At this point, President's Counsel Sarath Jayamanna, appearing for the first defendant, Patali Champika Ranawaka, raised a preliminary objection, stating that since the second defendant, Dilum Thusitha Kumara, had pleaded guilty in the case related to this accident at the Magistrate's Court, having two defendants for the same incident would be a violation of the rule of law. However, the Deputy Solicitor General responded by stating that the proceedings at the Magistrate's Court would not be an impediment to this High Court trial.

Thereafter, President's Counsel Maithri Gunaratne, appearing for the second defendant, driver Dilum Thusitha Kumara, cross-examined the witness. The High Court Judge, having considered the presented facts, ordered the further hearing of evidence to be postponed until today (06).