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Misfired guns have caused ‘collateral damage’
Last week a young Buddhist monk, 22, a student of the Buddhist and Pali University in Homagama died in a shooting incident. Ven. Unawatune Seelarathana Thera had sustained a gunshot injury when a police constable’s firearm is alleged to have misfired and struck the monk who was in a vehicle.
Deniyapura, Hungama: Police carrying out investigations at the scene where a Buddhist monk was accidentally shot at
The incident happened in Deniyapura Hungama around 11 a.m. on Sunday (19) when the deceased and seven other monks were travelling in a van for an alms giving in the area.
It is learnt that the two police officers — a constable and a sergeant on patrol in the Deniyapara area had been in pursuit of a suspect on a motorbike who had defied orders to stop. The suspect had attempted to turn into a bylane and taken a U-turn when the motorbike slid and the rider fell. The two armed policemen who were right behind him had arrested him and in the scuffle that followed the gun of one officer had fired and the bullet wounded the monk.
The monk was taken to the Angunukolapelessa Divisional Hospital where he passed away. He had been wounded in the lungs.
The suspect later was identified as a drug dealer who was out on bail in a case.
The case was heard at the Angunukolapelessa Magistrate’s Courts on Tuesday and the suspect was remanded till tomorrow (27). The constables were allowed to go after giving statements to the court.
Advice is being sought from the Attorney General’s office.
This is not the first time that such an incident happened.
On February 1 last year, in Kadawatha, a police officer suffered injuries to his arm when his gun accidentally discharged when he attempted to arrest a heroin dealer. The suspect’s mother, wife, and child were in a three-wheeler at the time.
Last July, a father of three, Kalutotage Udaya Pradeep Udaya Kumara, 39, a resident of Pilana, was killed in an alleged altercation in the middle of the day with a soldier at the gate of Upanandana Primary School in Maanawila, Akmeemana, and had tried to wrestle the weapon away from the soldier, as he had been denied entry to the school. The soldier was guarding the school following the Easter Sunday suicide on Catholic churches.
These incidents bring to attention the importance of security and law enforcement personnel handling lethal weapons responsibly.
Retired DIG H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya, said that death in such instances is collateral damage and not intentional.
He said the police are trained to handle guns and that the Police Academy gives its officers minimum six months of training before officers are handed guns.
Also, regular refresher courses are held every year along with guidelines on situations in which a weapon can be used.
He said that the Police Shooting Academy requires that a policeman is not expected to shoot a suspect fleeing the scene of crime. If needed, the weapon should be aimed at the legs.
However, in a scuffle, the police officers are expected to hold on to their guns for self-defence. “The deaths happen when they are at the wrong time at the wrong place,’’ he said.
Police officers who are provided with guns are screened for their physical and mental fitness. It is mostly, the Special Task Force that is armed with guns.
“We require that the guns are never locked and be ready for use in an emergency. But it is important that its nozzle always points down,’’ he said.
But the training in shooting does not provide solutions to law enforcement personnel in times of a scuffle. This has resulted in many innocents suffering.
Former DIG, Sirisena Herath, also confirmed that police are given intense training on handling guns. Also, they need to give an account of the ammunition given to them at the end of the day, he said.