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Weliweriya shooting: Police agree to finalise probe before Sunday
View(s):Police yesterday assured that all investigations into the Weliweriya’s shooting incident would be concluded before next Sunday. The assurance was given by Gampaha’s Assistant Police Superintendent Chandana Kodithuwakku when Ven. Theripehe Siridhamma Thera, the chief monk who is spearheading the clean water campaign in Rathupaswela, went to the Weliweriya police to inquire about the investigations.
The chief monk was accompanied by a few lawyers and representatives of Rathupaswala villagers who protested against a glove factory, accusing it of contaminating the ground water of the area. The protest on August 1 led to the Army shooting in which three people were killed and scores wounded.
Ven. Siridhamma Thera told the ASP to expedite the investigations and let the people know the truth as early as possible to stop various rumours that are causing divisions among the people. The chief monk said that some had even complained against him and his followers.
The chief monk told journalists that certain parties were working to divert the people’s attention from the real problem — the clean water issue — by spreading rumours.
“There was a meeting of priests, where this issue was taken up. But some tried to suppress the issue. They cannot hide the truth,” the monk said, alleging that these priests had been bought over or were being asked to do so by some influential people.
He said political parties also had different views on the Rathupaswela issue. But he urged them to join the villagers’ struggle to solve the water crisis, just as the area’s Catholic priests had done.
The monk said the Government had laid pipelines to supply clean water, but the villagers were not ready to pay tens of thousands of rupees to get connection because they had spent more than a lakh to dig wells that now contained contaminated water.
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