Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:52
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By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
The CCTV cameras installed at the Sathosa Building in Vauxhall Street, Colombo 02 had been disconnected on the day that the fire broke out, the Slave Island police informed Court yesterday.
At a previous occasion, Colombo Fort Magistrate had ordered the Chairman of the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) that the CCTV camera video footage obtained from the surveillance camera set up at the Sathosa Building be handed over to the Slave Island police in order to conduct further investigations.
Filing a further investigation report in connection with the incident, the Slave Island police told Court that it was revealed that the CCTV cameras installed at the Sathosa Building had been disconnected on the day that the incident took place. Police further informed Court that investigations have revealed that one of the security officers on duty was reported to be intoxicated at the time the incident took place. Police further informed Court that according to the Government Analyst’s report the fire which broke out at the building was a deliberate act.
Meanwhile, police further told Court that owing to fire, Sathosa had incurred a loss of Rs. 33 million. Police said they had already recorded a statement from the CWE chairman Eraj Priyantha Fernando, that several offices in the seventh floor including the Chairman’s office and Media Unit at Vauxhall Street, Slave Island were completely destroyed. The Chairman told police, important documents pertaining to judicial matters, corruptions, malpractices and disciplinary action taken against the employees were also completely destroyed by the fire which broke out at 2:30 a.m. on 31 July. The Slave Island Police are conducting further investigations into this incident.
