Former Minister and Anuradhapura District Organiser of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Duminda Dissanayake, has been remanded until 29 May following his arrest on Thursday (23 May) in connection with the discovery of a gold-plated T-56 assault rifle.
Dissanayake was produced before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, which ordered his remand custody pending investigations by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).
The investigation relates to a gold-plated T-56 assault rifle found inside a woman’s travel bag at a prominent apartment complex in Havelock Town on Tuesday (20 May). The weapon was discovered after a tip-off received via the ‘119’ police emergency hotline, reporting that an elderly woman was seen carrying what appeared to be a firearm into the building.
Wellawatte Police, including the Officer-in-Charge, responded to the scene and recovered the weapon during an inspection. Security personnel at the complex reported the incident to police after being alerted by residents.
Initial inquiries led to the arrest of two women – a 69-year-old Sri Lankan woman and her niece, a Kazakh national. The women claimed they had taken the weapon from the back of a luxury vehicle, believing it to be a toy gun. However, both were taken into custody, and police obtained detention orders for further interrogation until 23 May.
CCTV footage revealed the women carrying the travel bag containing the rifle from their residence, prompting a wider investigation. The police later visited another residence in Pelawatte connected to the suspects and transported the women, along with the vehicle allegedly used to transport the weapon, to the Wellawatte Police Station.
During questioning, the suspects stated that the rifle may have been placed inside the vehicle by an unknown individual while its doors were left unlocked.
Following these developments, the case was handed over to the TID, which continues to probe the origins and ownership of the gold-plated weapon. Duminda Dissanayake was reportedly arrested at a residence in Thimbirigasyaya and is currently being held in remand custody as part of the ongoing investigation.
