CID arrests alleged ‘White Van’ driver and victim

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – The individual who had claimed to be a driver of a so-called ‘White Van’ used to abduct people and another person who claimed to have been a victim of the abduction, have been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Both suspects had appeared at a media conference organised by Parliamentarian Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, ahead of the Presidential Election.

At the media briefing held on 10 November, Senaratne was present with Douglas Anthony Fernando, who claimed to drive the so-called ‘White Vans’ and another individual, Athula Sanjaya Madanayake, who was allegedly the victim of an attempted abduction.

Fernando told the media that the abductions and murders that took place during the Rajapaksa regime prior to 2015 were allegedly carried out in accordance with the orders of then Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He had claimed that those who were abducted were subjected to serious harassment and torture and were later killed in torture houses located in various parts of the country.

Fernando had claimed that one such site was in Monaragala where dead bodies of victims would be thrown into a nearby reservoir filled with crocodiles.

Madanayake disclosed to the media that he had been abducted in a white van in October 2013 in Ragama for stealing currency and gold being brought to Colombo in a bus from Jaffna.