With the warm of the covid epidemic spread across the country, the news that the CID had arrested the Kotmale Assistant Director of Land Settlements was heard yesterday (21st) afternoon.
He was arrested on charges of spreading false propaganda in the face book, causing distrust and displeasure among the public.
The arrested person was 42 year old Chamila Jayasinghe, a government official. He is the former Divisional Secretary of Uva Paranagama.
Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana stated that he had published photographs of a forest destruction on his Facebook page and that investigations had revealed that the photographs were taken during a clearing of a common land.
He has committed an offense under Section 120 of the Ceylon Penal Code and will be produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (22).
Chamila Jayasinghe is a straight talking officer. He is loved by the villagers and is considered to be an active activist for the environment. However, he was arrested by the CID for posting on Facebook.
Here we have something to ask the CID. That is what action the CID has taken so far regarding the YouTube channel which said that the whole country will be closed from May 01.
The people of the country were disturbed on May 1 by the Vishwa Derana YouTube channel which told the country through Breaking News that the whole country would be closed from May 1 to May 17. People ran to the queue to buy goods. Some of the people who were still missing were healed.
But in the end it turned out to be untrue. Following the publication of this news, the Police Media Spokesman stated that the CID has commenced investigations regarding this YouTube channel.
The people of the country hoped that those who spread this false news and disturbed the whole country would be arrested. But to this day, there does not seem to be any action taken in this regard. Also, the YouTube channel is working as usual.
This is more serious than posting a photo in the face book. But the law did not work for them. Instead, the face book seems to be more law enforcement than ever. It is important for the relevant authorities to keep in mind that these are also factors that cause displeasure among the public.