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Assault incident at big match: Probe into security firm
By Asif Fuard
The Defence Ministry has directed the Cinnamon Gardens police to conduct an inquiry into the security firm in charge of the Royal- Thomian big match, where a spectator had been allegedly assaulted with a baton by a security officer when the match ended last Saturday.

The Cinnamon Gardens police recorded the statement of the spectator in question Priyantha Kalyanaratne (34) at the Colombo National Hospital to which he was admitted after sustaining a severe head injury caused by blows from a blunt object.

Retired Colonel Deepal Subasinghe who is the owner of the security firm Delvon had also given a statement on the action of his security guards.
However when the police went to record statements from the security guards who were present at the scene, they had been ‘on leave’.

There has been much controversy regarding the spectator possessing a 9 mm pistol at the time he was assaulted. In the police statement given by Colonel Subasinghe it was said that Kalyanaratne was attempting to pull out the weapon and use it against his guards. However the police were unable to press charges against Kalyanaratne as he had a licensed weapon.

The Cinnamon Gardens Police OIC Chief Inspector Kirthipala told The Sunday Times that an inquiry is proceeding but the statements of the security guards who were involved have yet to be obtained as they are on leave.

“The matter we are inquiring into is the action by the security guards as it has been found to be uncalled for. In the first place the security guards
have no jurisdiction to carry weapons at a public gathering. The security guards have violated the law by assaulting a spectator with a baton. Even the police are not allowed to use a baton above the waist of a person when controlling riots or mobs,” he said.

“There is no concrete evidence to say that he was going to use his weapon as some police officers at the scene who stopped the person being assaulted said his weapon fell out when he was pinned down and assaulted,” he said.

Eyewitnesses said that Kalyanaratne had been obstructing the cricket match and was going from one stand to the other walking outside the boundary line at the SSC grounds. The security officers of Delvon who were in charge of the security at the match warned Kalyanarathne several times as he was under the influence of alcohol and had even walked in front of the sight screen at one point.

When Kalyanarathne refused to comply a few security guards had allegedly begun to assault him with their batons attached to the combat pants they were wearing.

He sustained severe head injuries and was escorted out of the grounds by the police who rushed him to the hospital. Colonel Subasinghe told The Sunday Times that his guards did not assault the person but only grabbed him and it was the police field force personnel who had assaulted him.

“He was about to load his weapon when our guards restrained him. Previously he had thrown a bottle of liquor at one of our guards and tried to intimidate him. He was also standing in front of the sight screen and had lifted his shirt and showed his weapon to whoever got close to him,” he said.

“He was not assaulted by any of our guards but was assaulted by the field force personnel. We cannot figure out who the person in last week’s picture that appeared in The Sunday Times is. The person in the picture is definitely not one of our guards and has to be someone from the police field force,” he said.

Eyewitnesses reported that there were several incidents where the security guards used unnecessary force but had ignored fights that were occurring in some of the tents.

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