The Nuwara Eliya Magistrate’s Court has issued an order to arrest a group of suspects, including Minister of Plantation and Water Supply Jeevan Thondaman over the incident related to the Nuwara Eliya Pedro Estate belonging to Kelani Valley Plantations PLC.
Nuwara Eliya Acting Magistrate Jayamini Ambagawatte today instructed the Nuwara Eliya Police to arrest the suspects and produce them in court.
Speaking to reporters, the lawyer representing Kelani Valley Plantations PLC said the Nuwara Eliya Police presented facts for the first time on the case to the Nuwara Eliya Acting Magistrate today.
He further said the Acting Magistrate then ordered the Police to arrest the group of suspects and present them in court on August 26.
Revealing that the company was of the stance that Minister of Plantation and Water Supply Jeevan Thondaman should be named a key suspect in the incident, he added that based on the facts presented, the court issued an order to arrest the group.
Minister Thondaman, the General Secretary of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), is accused of behaving in an unruly manner and allegedly threatening the management of the Nuwara Eliya tea estate on May 30.
At the time, he was reported to have stormed into the Head Office of the Nuwara Eliya Pedro Estate, belonging to the Kelani Valley Plantations PLC, resulting in the disruption of tea production.
Despite Minister Thondaman and the other suspects being summoned by the Nuwara Eliya Police to appear in court today, the group had failed to report to the court.
Based on the facts presented by the lawyers of the estate company, the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate’s Court ordered that Minister Thondaman and the other suspects be arrested and produced in court. (Newswire)