AG directs Acting IGP to arrest Kurunegala Mayor, 4 others

• Directs the 5 including Municipal Commissioner to be charged under Archaeology Act and Penal Code for demolishing ancient building
• Says Mayor was aware Buwaneka Hotel was the site of an ancient Royal Court

Attorney General Dappula De Livera yesterday directed the Acting IGP to obtain warrants for the arrest of five persons including the Mayor of the Kurunegala Municipal Council (KMC) in connection with the demolition of the Buwaneka Hotel, which the Archaeology Department says is a protected site.

The others who are to be named suspects in the case are the KMC Municipal Commissioner, Municipal Engineer, Acting Management Administrator and driver of the backhoe vehicle used to demolish the building.

The Acting IGP has been directed to frame charges against them for violating the Archaeology Act as well as under the Penal Code for causing destruction to a public property.

The AG Department official said that the total loss to the State caused by the demolition of the building (estimated loss Rs. 7.2 million) as well as the cost for its reconstruction (estimated cost Rs. 13.7 million) would add up to around Rs. 20 million.

The official said that the Mayor and the other KMC officials were aware that the building in question was an ancient Royal Court and the Mayor himself, in 2018, had presented a proposal to the Council to have it preserved. The Mayor’s proposal was approved by the Council

He said that officers of the Archaeology Department had visited the site in June this year on three occasions and begun drawing up plans to preserve the site.

However on 24 July the entire building had been demolished without any authorisation from the Archaeology Department of the Road Development Authority (RDA).