Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe has requested Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya to investigate how a letter he sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was leaked before being submitted to court, The Sunday Times reported.

The letter in question directed the CID to suspend his earlier order to discharge three suspects arrested for abducting journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge’s driver and destroying evidence.

According to The Sunday Times, the leak is suspected to have been intended to embarrass the Attorney General’s Department. The AG has already conveyed his concerns to the Acting IGP over the phone and will formally communicate them via letter tomorrow (17 February).

On 27 January, the AG informed the CID that Prem Ananda Udalagama, Don Thissasiri Sugathapala, and Prasanna Nanayakkara would no longer be prosecuted and could be released. However, the decision, communicated to both the CID and the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court, triggered widespread condemnation. Delivering justice for journalists who were killed, attacked, or abducted was a key pledge of the current government during last year’s elections.

On 13 February, the CID informed the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court that the Attorney General had overturned his previous order to release the three suspects linked to Wickrematunge’s murder.