More than 200 Golden Key (GK) staffers assembled at the GK head office in Bambalapitiya on Tuesday morning demanding the payment of their January and February salaries from Shantha Ranathunga, the financial controller of the company, who was inside the building, reporters said.

A CID inquiry was also being held in the second floor of the building. “The CID wants to trace the files which have recorded transactions worth of Rs 6 billion. This amount was lent as inter company transactions,” a company employee told TimesOnline. He said the irony is Mr. Ranathunga does not know where these files are.

Inside the building there were files piled up on top of each other which made the entire ground floor of the building a virtual dumpyard. Three CID officers were recording statements from an employee on the second floor with a police constable manning the entrance to the second floor. The employees shouted out for their salaries and pointed fingers at Mr. Ranathunga saying he has drawn his salary from the Ceylinco Chairman, Lalith Kotelawala’s office. Mr. Ranathunga denied this to TimesOnline saying he needs to cooperate with the CID in their investigations, and that he came to the premises today due to this reason.