Arrest warrant on SLMC minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 May 2003, 02:25 GMT]
The Batticaloa magistrate issued an arrest warrant on Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Mr. Mohideen Abdul Cader, Tuesday for failing to appear in court on four consecutive hearings for a case in which he stands accused of fraud. Mr. Cader is a senior leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the main coalition partner of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government.

Mr. M. A. Wahabdeen of Eravur, a predominantly Muslim town 14 kilometres north of Batticaloa, filed a case that his brother had paid Mr. Cader four hundred thousand rupees as fees to find employment in a European country and that the minister allegedly defrauded him (Wahabdeen’s brother) subsequently.

Mr. Wahabdeen is demanding that his brother be repaid the monies he had given to Mr. Cader for securing employment abroad.

The Batticaloa magistrate issued an arrest warrant on Mr. Cader in connection with this case last year too.

Legal sources familiar with the case said that Mr. Cader had taken large sums of money from Muslim youth in the district promising to find them employment in Europe.