Sri Lanka: Intelligence Squared


Defence Ministry Intelligence Adviser Kapila Hendawitharane failed to get an extension to serve the Army after completing his mandatory time, as he embezzled funds from the Army.


| by Gunadeera Rajakaruna
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to,the Sri Lanka Guardian)

(September 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Kapila Hendawitharane was not given an extension to serve the Army, for an additional two years as a Major General, after completion of his mandatory two (2) year period, as he was very heavily involved in embezzlement of Army Funds allocated as reward money to pay for the informants as reported by the Military intelligence once he served, by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as recommended by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But few months after his retirement Kapila was absorbed to the MOD ignoring his fast corrupt activities as an Intelligence Adviser to the Defence Secretary and later to become Gotabaya’s right hand man.

When the 30 odd Army officer was under PTA custody, Kapila has asked the Senior Superintendents from the PTA and also from the CID to form false evidence to keep them in custody for another two years, but fortunately those officer has told the Army Officers that they knew there was no coup to topple the government.
Retired Major General Kapila Hendawitharane is from Kaluwadumulla, Ambalangoda. He was an old student of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda where his brothers and sister also studied in a very friendly environment. A very good friend of mine who served in the Air Force told me that Kapila’s two elder brothers were his classmates and both were very friendly guys.

Kapila got married to his childhood sweetheart from the same College, daughter of the former Vice Principle of Dharmasoka College and from Polwaththa. The other four sisters of Mrs. Kapila Hendawitharane are married to old students from Dharmasoka College and also from Ambalangoda. Kapila and his brothers and sister including the in-laws all were educated at Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda and known to many, old students of Dharmasoka College like the former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka and many other Army, Navy and Air Force Officers.

According to his classmates, some of them served with him in the Army, he was a bright student and was very loyal to his friends, but at a later stage he changed his attitude to his old friends in the Army due to some unknown reasons and was trying to take revenge from many of them including General Sarath Fonseka. General Sarath Fonseka, Major General (Retd) Sunil De Silva, Major General (Retd) Sanath Karunarathna were Kapila’s contemporaries at the College as well as in the Army. He changed his attitudes to his friends and school mates after he start serving for the MOD, may be due his association with the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It is very ironical how he was absorbed by to the MOD as a Intelligence Adviser to the DS after the same DS Gotabaya decline an extension for him to serve the Army for another two years.

Kapila as a Brigadier served as the Chief of the Military Intelligence and was also responsible for the employment of Long Rangers. He was a very efficient man and collected information about the LTTE and established the Long Rangers to attack the LTTE in heir own back yard. But his greediness to money changes every thing for him, and he used to forge signatories of informant and collect the REWARD allocated to them for himself.

But when the situation was getting a bit too tough he became very friendly with a former Army Commander and both of them played out millions of rupees from the reward fund. This fraudulent activities should have gone unnoticed, but with the changed of government and Ranil Wickramasinghe becoming the Prime Minister and another ambitious Police ASP Udugampola, falsely implicating the Long Rangers as a killer squad of Army guys trying to kill Ranil Kapila’s kingdom went in to pieces, Kapila should have gone on syphoning more funds form the reward account not for this change of government.

Udugampola and Paskaralingam (advisor to Ranil) together supplied information to the LTTE about the Long Rangers and nearly 42 of them got killed and Kapila had two very narrow escapes from death squads of the LTTE..As the threat to his life was very high Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranayke the then President on the advice of the then Army Commander posted Kapila to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand.

Kapila’s place in the Military Intelligence was taken by another Major General and within a short period he discovered the fraudulent activities of Kapila, but kept on wraps, as the then Commander was also involved in that racket and the Army Commander was a very trusted friend of the then President Kumaratunga..

Kapila while in Thailand was looking for KP aka Kumaran Pathmanadan, and became very friendly with his associates as KP was not in Thailand during that time. Kapila return to Sri Lanka after two years and was promoted as a Major General, but he was never given his old post back. Kapila served his two years and during this time General Fonseka took over as the Army Commander and was very busy in preparing the Army to fight the LTTE.

After serving his 2 years as a Major General Kapila’s file came for a revive to grant him an extension. But unfortunately for him his old deeds were in his service file and the then Commander Sarath Fonseka wanted the President and the Secretary Defence to take a decision to give him an extension as they knew each other so well.

Army Commander Fonseka met with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Senior Inelegance Adviser to the President and the Ministry of Defence, a retired Senior Army officer, who knew Kapila and the Army Commander well. At this meeting President and Defence Secretary Gotabaya refused to allow Kapila another extension and Kapila retired from the Army.

After few months Kapila was absorbed to the MOD by Gotabaya Rajapaksa and start looking for evidence to get rid of the then Army Commander General Fonseka on Gotabaya’s instructions.

He negotiated with KP and KP surrendered to the then D/HC in Malaysia another Major General, and was brought to Sri Lanka by Kapila in especially reserved Business Class accommodation of the Sri Lankan Air lines and taken to Gotabaya’s house for morning breakfast with Gotabaya Rajapaksa ..

First time in the history a wanted murderer for mass murder was taken to meet the Defence Secretary to have breakfast and then to a palatial government accommodation for him to live the rest of his life with all the luxuries. LTTE sources are of the opinion Kapila was paid US $ I (One) million to arrange this surrender, and US $ 5 (five) million to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to keep KP in a safe environment, as KP was a wanted criminal by the CIA.and the American intelligence.

Now Kapila has suddenly come across information that General Fonseka is to be assonated by the LTTE. It was known to even a private in the Army that General Fonseka was their main target for many years even during his time as the Commander of the Jaffna when he refused to hand over the HSZ to the LTTE under the CFA.

It is a known fact that Kapila is very angry with General Fonseka thinking he was the man who got him out from the Army. But the senior former Army Officer who sat with the President and the Defence secretary thinks otherwise.

Why should Kapila goes to Bogambara and instruct PTA and CID officer to look in to this assassination plot when the LTTE Chief KP is with them in Colombo and Pottu Amman’s pistol gang is working for the MOD. It is my personal view that Kapila is trying to look for ways to get rid of General Sarath Fonseka as instructed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as they know General Fonseka will be a very serious threat to them when he comes out from prison very soon.

When the 30 odd Army officer was under PTA custody, Kapila has asked the Senior Superintendents from the PTA and also from the CID to form false evidence to keep them in custody for another two years, but fortunately those officer has told the Army Officers that they knew there was no coup to topple the government.

Kapila may be trying to embezzle some more money saying that he got this information from some LTTE informants or trying a fast one to prove that he and Gotabaya is very worried about General Fonseka’s security.

This is a conspiracy by Kapila with Gotabaya to harm General Fonseka as both of them are aware that their fabricated ’White Flag’ case with former AG Mohan Peiris and Frederica Janz from the Sunday Leader is now crumbling under international pressure to pieces.

Will these two, Gotabaya and Kapila bring down the Rajapaksa government and the entire Rajapaksa dynasty for good?

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