Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera today directed Acting Inspector General of Police C. D. Wickremeratne to obtain warrants from court, arrest, and produce the Kurunegala Mayor, Municipal Commissioner and 3 others over the destruction of an Ancient Monument known as Buwaneka hotel in Kurunegala in July.
The building identified as the 13th Century King’s Court of King Bhuvanaikabahu II, dating back to the Kurunegala / Yapahuwa Kingdom Era, falls under the supervision of the Department of Archaeology.
The Mayor of Kurunegal together with officials from the Urban Development Authority (UDA) is charged with bulldozing the entire building for a road development project.
Director-General of Archaeology Professor Senarath Dissanayake said the Department of Archaeology had filed a complaint with the Kurunegala Police on the demolition of a part of the Court on 06 July.
The Department of Archaeology had filed another complaint with the Kurunegala Police after the building was completely bulldozed on 17 July.
As the Kurunegala Police had disregarded both complaints, the Department of Archaeology had informed the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) both in writing and verbally on the incident.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had thereafter appointed a 5 -member expert committee to investigate the demolition. (Newswire)
