Stop misusing the Criminal Investigation Department

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the country’s top investigation body, is being fast turned into a public joke by the Government which has got into the habit of running to the CID with complaints every time it bungles up and is looking for a scapegoat to put the blame on. The foolhardy behaviour by the Government has led some on social media to label the CID as the ‘Comedy Investigation Department’, which though amusing does little to the credit of the Police Department’s highly coveted wing. Once the respected and feared CID is now asked to inquire into issues which can easily be investigated, if at all, by the regular police, if those in Government take the time to go to a station and file a report. But instead, the Government is directing all its dirty linen to the CID hoping that the CID will launder their complaints well enough that those in Government come out looking squeaky clean.

Last  week, Government authorities lodged several complaints with the CID hoping it will clear up the mess created by them.

 First the Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa went to the CID over the mess up over the Grade 6 English’s language module book in which the weblink to an adult website was printed.  Ironically Kaluwewa who has to sign off on the new module texts is now asking the CID to probe something that has passed through several layers in the Education Ministry as well as affiliated bodies hoping that they will find a scapegoat or a ‘saboteur’,  so that they can escape public anger.

Then there was the more ridiculous incident this week with the Public Security Ministry Secretary, a former policeman Ravi Seneviratne lodging a complaint with the CID to ascertain how a distorted version of the national emblem appeared on its official website. The mishap had apparently happened when the ministry webpage was being upgraded. An internal inquiry could have easily resolved the matter but instead the CID is being asked to probe this matter.

There was an even more ridiculous incident last week where the Gampaha District SJB  MP Prasad Siriwardana was summoned to the CID for questioning in connection with a statement he made on a private television channel regarding education reforms. If the CID is planning to summon to the CID every person who appears on talk shows and airs their views on television, radio or social media, it will certainly have its hands full doing the bidding for the Government.

Take the case of the Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara. He lodged a complaint with the CID some months ago alleging that some members of the Parliament staff had deliberately added ‘Dr’ in front of his name on the parliament website to defame him. Some parliament employees were summoned to the CID and their statements recorded but no one knows what happened to this so-called investigation.

Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala filed complaints with the CID regarding a man who allegedly used his name to fraudulently obtain 17 passports in December 2024, but so far no one has heard of the outcome of this investigation.

Then there was another CID complaint, this time regarding a news report on television that Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya had visited former President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his hospital stay when he was under police custody, which she had not done so. The public is awaiting the findings for this inquiry as well. And the list goes on.

The CID is there to investigate serious criminal and financial offenses, not to whitewash the Government. A responsible Government should learn to take responsibility when it messes up without looking for scapegoats and should leave the CID to attend to more important cases that need urgent attention.