It has been revealed before court that the documents requested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from the Navy Commander ten months ago with regard to an investigation into a person’s disappearance have still not been received because the CID did not follow the due procedure.
During the previous hearing, the CID had informed the court that the navy had not provided a copy of a letter allegedly sent to the then Navy Commander by the then Navy Intelligence Director Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne.
The letter is said to have been sent following an inspection of the infamous ‘Gun Site’ underground torture chamber in Trincomalee, in connection with the ‘Special Intelligence Unit’ that operated there.
The case involving the abduction, detention at the ‘Gun Site’ naval torture chamber in Trincomalee, and the disappearance of Shantha Samaraweera from Kegalle was taken up again on 10 September 2025.
During the hearing, the CID informed the court once again that the reports requested from the navy had not been submitted.
Speaking to journalists following the hearing, attorney Achala Seneviratne, who represents the victims, said that Polgahawela Magistrate Prasantha Fernando instructed the CID to make the request in accordance with the proper procedure.
“The CID informed the court that the documents it requested on 4 October 2024 from the Navy Commander to support the investigations of this case have not yet been provided, and sought the court’s assistance regarding the matter. In response, the magistrate instructed the CID to make the request in accordance with proper procedure,” Seneviratne said.
On 10 September 2025, the Polgahawela Magistrate ordered Admiral Ulugetenne to be remanded until 24 September 2025.
He was arrested in connection with the abduction, detention at the ‘Gun Site’ camp in Trincomalee, and the disappearance of Samaraweera.
During the previous hearing, attorney Mahesh Krishantha who represented Admiral Ulugetenne requested the Magistrate to release him from the case on the grounds that the CID had failed to submit evidence against him. However, the request was denied.
A group, including attorney Seneviratne who is representing the victims, recently lodged a complaint with the CID claiming that a statement made by former MP Udaya Gammanpila regarding the previous hearing of the case involving Admiral Ulugetenne had affected the investigating officers and the victims.
During the hearing, former Navy Commander Admiral Damith Nishantha Sirisoma Ulugetenne appeared before the court via Zoom.
Mothers of some of the eleven individuals who were detained at the same ‘Gun Site’ torture chamber as Samaraweera were present at the Polgahawela Magistrate’s Court along with attorney Seneviratne.
Chief Inspector Ilangasinghe presented facts before the court on behalf of the CID, which is investigating the abduction, detention and disappearance of Samaraweera.
As announced by the Navy, following the end of the war in 2009, Admiral Ulugetenne served as the Navy Intelligence Director for over three years.
The CID informed the Polgahawela Magistrate’s Court on 30 July 2025 that Admiral Ulugetenne stated that he visited the ‘Gun Site’ camp in Trincomalee with written permission from the then Navy Commander, Admiral Somathilaka Dissanayake.
This was following his appointment as Naval Intelligence Director on 1 October 2010.
During the previous hearing, the CID informed the court that Admiral Ulugetenne had told the CID that around 40–60 individuals were detained there at that time.
The 24th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Admiral Ulugetenne, was arrested by the CID on 28 July 2025. He was arrested on the grounds that the ‘Gun Site’ naval torture chamber – where Samaraweera had been detained following his arrest by the police on 22 July 2010 and subsequent disappearance – operated under Admiral Ulugetenne, who was then the Navy Intelligence Director.
The report submitted by the CID to the court during a previous hearing stated that according to Admiral Ulugetenne, even though the underground ‘Gun Site’ camp in Trincomalee operated under him, a unit known as the ‘Special Intelligence Unit’ also operated there and that it was not operated by the Navy Intelligence Unit.
Admiral Ulugetenne had given a statement to the CID saying that the said intelligence unit, which is said not to be affiliated with the Navy Intelligence Unit, received orders from the then Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake, and that navy officers named Ranasinghe, Podi Kumara, Loku Kumara, Ratnayake, Sandamali and Kaushalya were under him.
He had further told the CID that he disbanded the Special Intelligence Unit.
The CID is investigating the abduction of 11 individuals, including young men, during the 2008–2009 period and their detention at the ‘Gun Site’ camp in Trincomalee.
Basnayaka Mudiyanselage Wijayakanth alias Podi Malli, a Navy intelligence officer who had been detained at the camp for almost a year, had said that Samaraweera was held there with him.
The police had further revealed that Prageeth Nisansala Withanarachchi from Ibbagamuwa was also there.
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