Update, August 17: The Central Crime Investigation Bureau has obtained a 90-day detention order to continue questioning Basik, replacing the 72-hour order under which he was first held. He has also given investigators an account of his arrest in Dubai. Details below.

90-day detention order granted

The Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) has been permitted to detain and question Basik for 90 days, Ada Derana reported on Monday. Hiru News also reported the order.

Basik told investigators he was at a luxury shopping mall in Dubai when he was stopped and searched by Dubai police, according to Ada Derana. He said the stop came at a time when Iran was carrying out attacks on the UAE, and that officers searching his mobile phone found footage of those attacks, after which he was arrested.

He further said Dubai police questioned him daily about his alleged links to Iran until he was deported, and that authorities there later instructed him to buy an air ticket to Sri Lanka. None of this account has been independently confirmed, and it rests on the suspect’s own statements to investigators.

Ada Derana placed his arrest in Dubai in March. Hiru News previously reported the arrest as having taken place on 26 May, and the two accounts have not been reconciled by either outlet.

Ada Derana also reported that an Interpol Red Notice issued earlier by Sri Lankan police in a drug-related case against him had been withdrawn, and that he was detained in Dubai at a time when Sri Lankan authorities were preparing to seek a fresh Red Notice.

Suspected large-scale drug trafficker Shiran Basik has told investigators he holds a stake in five hotels along Colombo’s Marine Drive, NewsFirst reported, as police said inquiries had uncovered dealings between him and terrorist organisations.

Basik, 48, a resident of Dehiwala, was flown back from Dubai on Friday night and handed to the Central Crime Investigation Bureau, which initially held him under a 72-hour detention order.

Questioning turns to property

Information about Basik’s properties emerged during interrogation, NewsFirst said. The suspect claimed during questioning that he owns five hotels along Marine Drive, the coastal stretch running south from Colombo’s Fort. Investigation teams are continuing to question him about the properties as well as his alleged drug trafficking operations.

Police have moved against property linked to him before. Hiru News reported that a hotel in the Dehiwala area said to belong to Basik was demolished by police on 1 January 2024.

Helicopter training in Dubai

Investigations have also revealed that Basik underwent training to fly helicopters while in Dubai, NewsFirst reported on Monday. No further detail was given on when the training took place, where it was carried out or whether he completed it.

Basik fled Sri Lanka and had been in hiding in Dubai before being arrested and deported. The Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau is conducting the investigation, initially under a 72-hour detention order and, from 17 August, under a 90-day order.

Police allege dealings with terrorist organisations

Police Media Spokesman ASP F. U. Wootler said it had now been revealed that Basik had dealt with terrorist organisations, Hiru News reported, citing remarks he made at a news conference on Saturday. Neither the organisations involved nor the nature of the dealings was identified, and the assertion has not been tested in court.

Wootler also said arrangements were being made to bring back a further 72 people who are hiding abroad and against whom Interpol Red Notices have been issued. That sits alongside the 73 Red Notices the Inspector General of Police said had been issued the same weekend. Neither account states whether the two counts measure the same thing, and police figures on Red Notices have varied through the year.

Hiru described Basik as one of five large-scale traffickers supplying drugs to Sri Lanka. He was arrested by Dubai police on 26 May while in hiding there, after Interpol issued Red Notices against him.

Earlier allegations

Police have separately said they are investigating whether Basik had any involvement in recent clashes in Sri Lankan prisons, and that information has emerged linking him to the 2012 Welikada Prison riot. Both remain allegations, and no charges have been announced on either.

Sources