(Lanka-e-News -01.Feb.2025, 11.00 PM) It has been 14 years since the Lanka E-News office in Sri Lanka was set on fire. As of January 30, 2025, no one has been held accountable for the crime. The office, then located on Daham Mawatha, Malabe, was completely destroyed in an arson attack on January 30, 2011, in the early hours of the morning.
The fire consumed all the equipment in the office, including computers, cameras, scanners, printers, photocopiers, fax machines, televisions, digital editing tools, furniture, refrigerators, and air conditioners—amounting to millions of rupees in losses. However, the most devastating loss was the destruction of the invaluable library, which housed nearly 3,000 books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, and software CDs, including rare books that were centuries old and irreplaceable.
Following the attack, Lanka E-News' then-news editor, Bennett Rupasinghe, addressed the media, saying:
"Our institution had been running for five years, despite many threats. Around 1:30 AM last night, an unidentified group forcibly entered and destroyed all our equipment—computers, photocopiers, fax machines, cameras—everything. Nothing was left. We also lost a collection of books, some over 100-200 years old, books that are not even available in other libraries. We cannot even begin to estimate their value." (Excerpt from Vikalpa website)
At the time, the Mahinda Rajapaksa government made no effort to investigate the attack. In fact, the very idea that the real perpetrators would ever be investigated was nothing short of a joke.
After the attack, Lanka E-News continued its operations from London, shifting to an overseas base.
Years later, during the Yahapalana (Good Governance) government, a journalist from Lanka E-News contacted then-Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon, who had been the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) responsible for the Malabe area at the time of the fire.
When asked why no investigation had been conducted, Deshabandu revealed that his superior at the time, the Western Province Senior DIG Anura Senanayake, had prevented any probe into the incident.
When pressed on why Senanayake had done so, Deshabandu made a bizarre claim—that Senanayake had once visited the Lanka E-News office and had been "ridiculed" by the female employees. This, however, was an outright lie. Senanayake had visited the office only once to obtain a statement regarding a news story, during which he had a casual discussion with editor Bennett Rupasinghe and chief editor Sandaruwan Senadheera, even having a soft drink with them. At the time, only one female employee worked at the institution.
By the time Deshabandu made this revelation, Anura Senanayake had already passed away, but Deshabandu himself remains in active service.
In the 14 years since the attack, no Sri Lankan government has conducted a proper investigation into the crime. When Pujith Jayasundara was the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Lanka E-News editor personally requested an inquiry. Following this request, a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) from Mirihana initiated a preliminary investigation—but nothing substantial came of it.
For the first time in over 2,500 years, Sri Lanka now has a government elected by the people. We urge them to investigate the Lanka E-News arson attack, identify the perpetrators, masterminds, and accomplices, and bring them to justice.
Among the politicians who visited the crime scene immediately after the fire was none other than Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ex President of Sri Lanka. Yet, even during his tenure, no investigation has been conducted. Another key figure present was the current Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath.
We now look to the NPP government to deliver justice.
-Below is a video of the protest organized by media associations in Colombo on February 1, 2011, against the attack
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by (2025-02-01 18:15:08)
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