වාහන මාරු කර කර ආරණ්‍යයේ සැගවෙන්න ගිය ඥානසාර හිමි Sim මාරු කරං අඳනෙකුත් ඇඳන් හැංගී හිටියාලු

According to a senior officer of the Colombo Crimes Division, the story of Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero, who had warrants issued by the court, hiding and fleeing until he was taken into police custody while hiding in a forest monastery (aranya senasanaya) in Thiniyawala, has now been revealed. When the police team arrived at the location, the Thero was in a hut on the monastery grounds, dressed only in a loincloth.

Furthermore, investigations have confirmed that he had also changed the SIM card in his mobile phone with the intention of evading the law.

The police launched this operation based on information received from an insider who tipped them off that Gnanasara Thero had arrived at this forest monastery. When the police questioned another monk residing at the monastery, that monk initially lied, stating that Gnanasara Thero had arrived and then left in another vehicle. The monk attempted to mislead the police in this way. However, during further questioning, the monk became entangled in his statements and gave suspicious answers, leading the police to take steps to search the forest monastery.

Accordingly, acting on the suspicious situation, a team of police officers launched an intensive search throughout the monastery grounds, which were heavily infested with leeches during the night. Several other meditation huts located below the main huts were also inspected by the police, and it was in one of these huts that the police team was able to locate Gnanasara Thero.

"Oh, officers, please let me stay here and meditate... Where are you, officers?... I'll do anything for the help you give... I can't stay there, can I?... You understand, don't you...?"

An arresting officer stated that Gnanasara Thero, by hiding in this manner and 'throwing sand in the eyes' of the police while three warrants were issued against him, demonstrated his 'fear of imprisonment.' The attempt by a monk to hide in a sacred place, much like a criminal fleeing from the police, is a unique incident.

It has now been revealed that to reach this hiding place, Gnanasara Thero changed the vehicles he was traveling in several times along the way, thereby misleading CCTV tracking units. However, due to the reliable tip-off received from within, the Thero was unable to hide there for long.

A broad investigation is currently underway regarding all individuals who deliberately provided shelter to Gnanasara Thero while he was evading the law, and in connection with this, the police have already recorded statements from six individuals who were present at the monastery.

On a previous occasion, Venerable Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thero was sentenced to imprisonment by the court for the offense of publicly making an anti-religious statement. While the Eknaligoda disappearance case was being heard, Gnanasara Thero burst into the Homagama court and, using abusive language such as 'P***' towards Judge Ranga Dissanayake, asking 'Do you treat war heroes like this?' and 'Who are you to arrest war heroes for these things?', obstructed court proceedings and behaved in a riotous manner. A contempt of court case was quickly filed against Gnanasara Thero, resulting in a 6-year prison sentence. 

However, during the time when former President Maithripala Sirisena was in office and there was a tendency for party crossovers, a presidential pardon was issued to lighten Gnanasara Thero's sentence, viewed from a political angle as he was an influential figure in the Rajapaksa camp, and he was released in 7 months. However, since the pardon was granted outside proper procedure, the court recently acted to correct this error, and Gnanasara Thero is now scheduled to be re-imprisoned by the court for the remaining 5 years and 5 months.