The Police Media Division has announced that Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) F.U. Wootler has been named as the new Police Spokesperson, effective immediately.

ASP Wootler takes over the role from Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Buddhika Manatunga, who has been transferred to serve as the Officer-in-Charge of the Polonnaruwa Division.

Former Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and former Director General of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka – Jayantha Edirisinghe, were served indictments today (June 30) before the Colombo High Court.

The indictments, filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), allege that the two individuals caused a loss of over Rs. 1.7 million to the government.

The alleged offence relates to the use of BOI funds for newspaper advertisements published for the second anniversary of the inauguration of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014.

The indictments were formally presented to the accused before Colombo High Court Judge Pradeep Abeyratne.

Following the submission of indictments, the defendants were granted bail.

Jayne Howell has been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

She succeeds Doug Sonnek, whose tenure in Sri Lanka ended recently.

Jayne Howell is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.

Jayne has extensive overseas experience, including recent postings as Minister-Counselor for Consular Affairs (MCCA) in both Pakistan and Türkiye, where she served as the Ambassador’s senior advisor on immigration and visa policy as well as coordinated countrywide services for the thousands of American citizens visiting those countries each year. Jayne also worked as the Consular Section Chief in Accra, Ghana; Harare, Zimbabwe; and Kabul, Afghanistan.

In Washington, Jayne has served in several senior leadership roles in the Bureau of Consular Affairs including Deputy Executive Director, Supervisory Regional Consular Officer, and inaugural Director of 1CA, the Bureau’s leadership and management excellence program. For her work in 1CA, Jayne received the Department of State’s Luther I. Replogle Award for Management Improvement.

Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Jayne holds a B.A. in Archaeological Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Outside of work, Jayne is a passionate explorer of ancient and historical sites, goes deep-sea fishing whenever she can, and tries to learn to cook a traditional dish from every country she visits.