President promised to cancel FCID

It has come to light that President Maithripala Sirisena was unaware concerning the establishment of the newly formed police unit ‘the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID)’.

The FCID was enforced by an extraordinary gazette notification issued in February. The Opposition MPs requested the President today to cancel the gazette notification which enabled a Cabinet Sub-committee led by the Prime Minister to lodge complaints with the Police Financial Crime Investigation Division. The request was made during the SLFP MPs meeting held in the parliament complex. The special police unit has been established via a subcommittee appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, the source added. The FCID most of the time drew attention to probe and interrogate complains with respect to the close associates of the former government. However, President Sirisena has vowed to examine the matter and make a decision in this regard soon.