Fort police face fire with fire

Although shattered by the blast on Friday that killed some colleagues and injured many more, they will continue with their duties says superintendent of police, Fort

By Nadia Fazlulhaq, Damith Wickramasekara and Himal Kotelawala, Pix by Sanka Vidanagama and M.A. Pushpa Kumara

Yet another inhuman suicide attack occurred at highnoon on Friday targeting two buses carrying more than hundred police officers, killing eight of them including three Women Police Constables (WPCs) and three civilians. More than 90 were injured with five being in critical condition. The blast occurred at 12.10 in the high security zone down Lotus Road, Colombo 1.

There were many eye witnesses to this latest horror, in this busy part of Colombo. M. Thurairajah was on his way to Pettah with his driver and others transporting some electrical goods by van. They had just passed Sri Sambodhi Vihara when Thurairajah heard a loud bang followed by a ball of fire and thick smoke. The windshield of the van was shattered and the vehicle proceeded a few metres before it came to a halt.

“There was a lot of heat. The windows were open and I felt the fire but I didn’t get any burns. I felt the heat on my trousers and skin,” he said. Sanjaya Rajapaksa was waiting for a friend at the Ceramic Junction, when the blast occurred. He ran to the scene.

“I saw two buses, two three wheelers and a motorbike heavily damaged. An injured police officer was fallen on the ground. I got into one of the buses and helped to separate the dead from the wounded. I must have helped to remove five bodies out of the bus and send about 20 of the injured to hospital.

Mohamed Ibnoon was driving his three wheeler packed with vegetables from the Pettah Manning Market when he approached the security check point on Lotus Road. Ibnoon had just showed his National Identity Card (NIC) to the security personnel and was getting back into his threewheeler, when the blast occurred.

“There was fire and the door of a vehicle came flying at me from the left,” he said. Ibnoon was lucky to escape without any serious injury. However, he lamented that no one took him to hospital even one and a half hours after the blast.

All eight victims were police constables attached to the Fort Police, one of Colombo’s busiest police stations. The station is especially equipped to cover protests and picket campaigns. On that fateful day police personnel were on duty to prevent those participating in the UNP protest, at Maradana – against alleged malpractices at the eastern Provincial Council Elections – from entering the high security zone. Most of the injured were also from the same police station.

Superintendent of Police Ranmal Kodituwakku, said although the police officers were shaken by the loss of their colleagues, the incident had not affected their morale.“These people had worked together and the bonds were strong. But we are a professional police force.

“We will have problems when conducting day to day activities when you lose 50 or so of your men, but it won’t stop the smooth functioning of the station,” he said.

The Sunday Times spoke to some of the injured police officers in the Accident Service of the National Hospital. Police Constable (PC) Neil Wasantha said that there were about 120 police officers on duty and more than 70 of them were in the bus that was severely damaged.

“I saw a bike crashing into one of the buses and suddenly there was a huge ball of fire and then there was black smoke. I felt a searing pain in my body,” he said. PC Asanka Sanjeewa, still in his tattered uniform and suffering from head injuries, was in the bus into which the suicide bomber rammed his bike.

S. S. Weerasinghe, said during his five years of service he had never witnessed such a painful moment. “The Fort police are always equipped to provide protection as this is a high security zone. Even today we had officers on special duty apart from the riot squad,” he said.

Director of the Accident Service Dr. Anil Jaasinghe said that among the eleven dead were three WPCs and three civilians.“Among the injured there are 6 soldiers, 44 police officers and civilians. Around 10 of the police officers are severely injured and have undergone head-related surgeries and around five are receiving treatment at the ICU,” he said.

A. C. M. Buhari from Wellampitiya was one of the civilian victims. A threewheeler driver by profession he was doing his usual rounds in Colombo that fateful Friday. His threewheeler was a few feet away from the motorbike rider who crashed his bike into one of the police buses blowing everything around him to smithereens.

Buhari was seriously injured and was rushed to the National Hospital ICU. After undergoing several operations he succumbed to his injuries later that night.

PC J.N.A.B. Puvakgolla
PC N.P.Sisira Senaratne
PC R.L.Edirisinghe
PC A.S. Deshapriya
PC W.M Navaratne Bandara
WPC W.M.L.Himali Weerakoon
WPC D.S. Yamuna Kanchana
WPC M.S.W.Chaturika