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AG slams PNB officers; Acting IGP walks away as AG starts speaking
Proper supervision by senior officers at the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) could have averted officers working with drug traffickers, Attorney General Dappula de Livera has observed.
His criticism of the PNB officers came during a two-hour hard-hitting speech on Friday at the office of the Western Province Deputy Inspector General. He was addressing a group of senior police officers, including those from the PNB.
While acknowledging that most PNB officers were honest, he pointed out that the entire unit was now getting a bad name owing to the actions of a few corrupt officers. He urged PNB officers to come forward to expose the corrupt elements within their ranks.
The AG accused senior police officers of not properly supervising the activities of junior officers. If that had been done properly, it would have prevented the current dismal state of affairs, he added.
“The entire country knows about these officers now. You can’t work with corrupt officers. You know who the corrupt elements among you are. Give us information concerning them. Let’s purge the corrupt elements and clean up this agency,” the AG appealed to PNB officers.
Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana Wickram-aratne was initially present in the audience but left as soon as the AG began his speech.
Speaking further, the AG asked officers to “be afraid of the law” and to “be afraid of committing crimes.”
“How do you become afraid? You must think that there is no escape for you if you commit crimes. You must think about what would happen if you are in that position. You must both respect and fear the law.”
The AG was scathing regarding the administration within the PNB and supervision of its officers. “There’s no discipline here. You can’t do your jobs properly if there is no discipline. Senior officers must set an example to their juniors. You can’t save criminal gangs. They will eventually be caught and even if they aren’t, they will face justice according to ‘Ditta Dhamma Vedaniya Kamma.’ They will suffer in the end.”
Noting that many PNB officers were still very young, the AG said they had many more years of service to give to the country. “You have a bright future ahead of you. Don’t lose that by being branded as criminals yourselves,” he warned.
While stating that the PNB needed honest and efficient officers, Mr. de Livera said if an officer’s goal was simply to earn money, they should resign from the police and start a business. “Don’t do this while in uniform. Protect state institutions. You have a responsibility to protect the rule of law and to treat everyone equally.”
He also said one should not keep the same set of officers in one group for years, adding that officers should be regularly transferred and new ones brought in.
He also stated that younger officers should be given more responsibilities so that they could be trained. He said teams should be constantly shuffled when conducting raids.
“I came to give this speech on the invitation of the Director of the PNB. Given the current situation however, I have the power to summon senior police officers and give this speech even without such an invitation as per Section 393 (2) of the Penal Code,” he quipped.
The AG noted that senior officers must closely supervise all activities of their juniors. “They must scrutinise all their log entries. I don’t see that happening properly. The senior officers must keep a tab on where their junior officers are going and about the lifestyles they lead. Their finances too must be probed. That is how you supervise officers properly. You must be constantly vigilant,” he insisted.
Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardana, Deputy Solicitor Dileepa Peiris, Senior State Counsel Janaka Bandara and State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne were among the officials from the AG’s Department officials who were present.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ajith Rohana delivered the Vote of Thanks.
| Journalists invited, but police prevent their entry Journalists invited to cover the AG’s speech were prevented from entering the premises by police officers on duty at the entrance, leading to heated arguments.  Lankadeepa journalist being manhandled. Pic by Amila Gamage On Thursday, the journalists received an invitation from the AG’s Coordinating Officer Nishara Jayaratne to cover the speech. They were asked to be at the venue by 9 a.m.. Many showed up even earlier but were kept waiting on the pavement outside the venue by policemen guarding the entrance. The situation grew heated when police suddenly informed journalists that they had been instructed not to let the media in. When angry journalists inquired as to who had ordered that the media to be kept away, the police officers said the Acting IGP and other senior police officers had given them instructions not to let the journalists in. Some members of the media who tried to make their way into the venue were manhandled and physically removed by police from the premises. | |