July 20, 2013, 7:36 pm

By Sujeeva Nivunhella


in London


The pro-LTTE activist, who invaded the pitch during Sri Lanka-India encounter at the ICC Champions trophy semifinals on June 20, was fined by a court in Cardiff last week.


The Judge fined Manimaran Sadasaramorrthy alias Logeshwaran Manimaran a nominal 250 Great Britain Pounds (GBP) and an additional 85 GBP as court costs and 25 GBP as victim surcharge.


The Sri Lankan government was not represented at the trial of this key LTTE figure who invaded the pitch carrying an Eelam flag at Cardiff Cricket Grounds.


At the hearing in Cardiff, Prosecutor David Cooke told court that the suspect gave a false name and date of birth on his arrest. He also had previous convictions for dishonesty. A father of two children, he is unemployed.


Sri Lanka earlier sought Interpol assistance for the arrest of Sadasaramorrthy (42) against whom Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya issued a warrant as the suspect is wanted in connection with withdrawing cash from 10 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of several private banks in Sri Lanka using fake credit cards.


He is alleged to have defrauded around Rs. 3 million from two leading private banks alone.


After comparing the visuals recorded in the CCTV cameras in the ATM cubicles and the pitch invasion photographs, Sadasaramorrthy was identified as the culprit.


The suspect is also being sought by the police for a similar fraud in Thailand. He had given the slip after allegedly defrauding millions from banks using forged credit cards.


Reports said the suspect also operates under the assumed names Sudeswaramoorthy Yasodaran, Narayana Swamy Mohan, Mohanraja Subramium and Edwin.


"The time is opportune to appoint a Defense Attache to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to deal with cases of this nature", observers commented. "It is more than one year since the former Defense Attache Major General Prassana Silva left London".

island.lk