High Court Orders Transfer of 'Harak Kata' to Suitable Prison Under Tight Security

04-Aug-2026

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The Colombo High Court has ordered prison authorities to transfer alleged organised crime figure Nadun Chinthaka Wickremeratne, alias 'Harak Kata', to a suitable prison under adequate security.

The order was issued by High Court Judge Buddhika Sri Ragala when the case was taken up on August 3.

The case concerns five accused persons, including Harak Kata, who are alleged to have conspired to escape while being held in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Earlier, on July 30, the High Court ruled that charges could not be maintained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), but could instead be pursued under the Penal Code.

At that time, the Court also directed that the Attorney General be informed if a revised indictment was to be filed.

When the case was taken up again, the State Counsel informed the Court that the Attorney General intended to appeal against the earlier ruling.

The prosecution pointed out that only two days had elapsed since the order was delivered and that the Attorney General had 14 days within which to file an appeal.

Accordingly, the State argued that it would be inappropriate to grant bail to the accused during the appeal period and requested the Court to defer consideration of the bail applications.