Mr.Arjuna Hettiarachchi has been arrested by the CID in connection with the fire on the X-Press Pearl vessel. He is the chairman of the Sea Consortium Lanka, the local agent of the X-Press Feeders’ agency.
Hettirachchi had appeared before the CID earlier today (16) to record a statement over the disaster which had ensued after a fire that broke out on the vessel.
Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said that the CID had collected the information in respect of communications that had been exchanged between the captain and parent company of the vessel and the local agent of the company in Colombo.
It has been revealed that the local company had acted negligently in respect with the incident, he said.
Earlier, the CID also arrested the Captain of the X press Pearl vessel
Meanwhile, the environmentalists point out there has been an unusual number of dead turtles being washed ashore following the incident with the MV X-Press Pearl container ship.
Wildlife Department Veterinary Unit senior official stated that until postmortem examinations are conducted on the bodies, it is not conclusive that the cause of death for these animals was the fire that erupted on the container ship.