Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala has revealed about an individual who had deceived him and his ministry staff, eventually fleeing with 17 new passports.
During an interview with local media, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala said that the incident had occurred during his first official visit to his office at the ministry recently.
Deputy Minister Watagala said as he entered the ministry premises, an individual he assumed was a ministry staff had taken the lead to escort him to various departments of the ministry.
He said, at the time, he assumed he was a ministry official, while the ministry staff had been informed by the man that he had been sent from the Presidential Secretariat to coordinate the Deputy Minister’s visit.
“A tea party had been organised to mark the occasion, and the man was actively involved in arranging it. He also escorted me to visit various sections of the ministry, including areas related to passport preparation, claiming that no minister had ever toured those sections before,” Deputy Minister Watagala said.
The Deputy Minister said only the following day he had been informed by his team that this person had instructed ministry staff to provide voice clips to the media praising him as a good person and an excellent deputy minister, advising that this man was not suitable to be a staff member.
Inquiries from Ministry officials had proven that the man was an outsider, with Deputy Minister Watagala saying it was later found that his team had removed the man from the premises due to his actions.
The Deputy Minister of Public Security further said that, however, by then the man had left the ministry with 17 new passports, after claiming that the Deputy Minister had ordered the collection.
Stating that the individual has been identified as Nishantha, Deputy Minister Watagala said he has instructed the Police to immediately apprehend the man. (Newswire)