News
Dept. inquiry against Hambantota Police for negligence of duties
Gayashan being brought to the Hambantota Magistrate Court. Pic by Ranjith Perera
A Police Departmental inquiry is under way against several police personnel attached to the Hambantota Police station, for negligence of their duties, after a young man in their custody managed to escape, only to resurface a few days later, amidst a public outcry of wrongdoing on the part of the Police.
G.G. Gayashan, one of three persons taken into custody for allegedly robbing several bags of paddy from a storehouse in the area, had managed to escape from custody and was in hiding for several days, before seeking shelter at a temple in Dickwella, when the Chief Incumbent of the temple, the Ven. Amabakolawewa Buddhika Thera turned him over to the Police.
Rumours of foul play on the part of the Police surfaced when DIG Ajith Rohana told reporters at a media briefing that the policemen who arrested three suspects had manipulated their books to record the arrest of only two persons, and produced them in court. By then Gayashan had escaped from custody, but there was no record of his arrest in the police books.
The young man’s family members too alleged that Gayashan had been harmed after his arrest. The other two suspects who were arrested and later released on bail, also alleged he was assaulted while in custody, and was forced to make a confession of his involvement in robbing sacks of paddy.
Following this, four policemen attached to the Hambantota police station were transferred and an inquiry against them is now under way.
Gayashan was produced before the Hambantota Chief Magistrate Manjula Karunaratne and remanded till September 21.
Meanwhile, the Code of Conduct issued by the National Police Commission to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Police, gives specific guidelines on how police personnel should deal with suspects.
“Police personnel are not entrusted with any judicial powers and hence, should in no way inflict punishment on suspects,” it states.
It also states that, “Suspects taken into custody should not be subjected to any physical force while being questioned and should be given the benefit of the doubt, without assuming they are guilty of a crime, by the law officers.”