Adarsha Karandana who was arrested by the Police Computer Crime Division for allegedly demanding Rs.100 million from President’s former advisor Prof. Ashu Marasinghe, was enlarged on bail.
The order was issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis yesterday. She was released on two sureties of Rs.500,000 each.
When the case was taken up before the Magistrate, the Criminal Investigations Department informed the court that the suspect had been arrested in connection with demanding Rs.100 million from Prof. Ashu Marasinghe in order not to disclose certain video clips of him.
The CID further noted that they have seized three mobile phones and a laptop belongs to the suspect as well. The CID requested the Magistrate to issue an order directing the Government Analyst to submit a report pertaining to those productions.The CID also pointed out that they were not able to find out the key mobile phone used by the suspect. “The suspect has no permanent residence,”the CID added.
Attorney Hafeel Fareez appearing on behalf of the aggrieved party told the Magistrate that they were strongly opposed with granting bail to the suspect. He also stated that the suspect has intentionally levelled sexual allegations in order to extort money from his client.Counsel further stated that if bail is granted, it would disrupt ongoing investigations into the matter.
Attorney Sudath Wickramarathne representing the suspect stated that there is no evidence that his client had demanded ransom from the said complainant. He also stated that his client had lodged a number of complaints to the Borella Police regarding Prof. Ashu Marasinghe. “No action has been taken regarding the complaints lodged by his client,” he added.
After taking the facts into consideration, the Magistrate observed that the Criminal Investigations Department has not submitted sufficient facts to reject the bail application made by the defence party. The Magistrate fixed further inquiries for March 23.
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