Detective flees Lanka after death threats

A Sri Lankan detective investigating high-profile cases has fled the country after receiving death threats soon after the change of government, police and media reports said yesterday. Inspector Nishantha Silva has sought asylum in Switzerland, according to media reports. He left the island on Sunday without informing his Criminal Investigations Department superiors, a police statement said. “There are various allegations that this officer had been biased during his investigations in the past four and a half years,” the police statement said.