November 25, Colombo (LNW): Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament that an investigation is under way into the removal of several directional signboards marking archaeological sites in the Batticaloa district.
He assured MPs that anyone found responsible will be taken into custody and prosecuted in line with judicial directives.
Delivering a statement in Parliament yesterday (24), the Minister said that police in both Valachchenai and Kokkadicholai had received complaints alleging that a group of individuals had dismantled signboards pointing to notable heritage locations in the two areas.
According to the report lodged in Valachchenai, six signs vanished on November 22, with a formal complaint submitted the following day.
It was further alleged that among those implicated is the Chairman of the Valachchenai Pradeshiya Sabha. The Minister noted that the Inspector General of Police has directed local officers to conduct a thorough inquiry, report to the Valachchenai Court without delay, and present any arrested suspects along with the recovered signboards.
A separate complaint filed in Kokkadicholai on November 23 indicated that two signs had been removed several days earlier, on November 20.
Minister Wijepala stressed that the rule of law applies uniformly and that these signposts, maintained for years by the Archaeological Department, play an important role in safeguarding the country’s historical record.
He added that authorities have previously detected attempts by certain groups to manipulate such incidents to inflame communal tensions.
He reaffirmed that the Government would not permit anyone to generate ethnic discord by tampering with heritage markers and promised swift police action to retrieve the missing signs and bring the offenders before the courts.
