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‘They asked us to kneel, then they beat us with sticks’

Survivor of Kuruwita prison horror recounts ordeal at the hands of guards

By Nalaka Nonis

A reckless complaint by school authorities regarding a bomb -hoax telephone call and an equally recklessly conducted police investigation, that resulted in the brutal death of an innocent man has sparked off a debate over the treatment meted out to detainees in remand custody.

Sunil Perera from Pitakkote and Gamini Munaweera from Makola South were arrested following a complaint made by teachers of Mihindu College, Ratnapura, that they had made a call warning of a bomb, on June 28, the day that many schools islandwide closed after rumours spread like wildfire.

A barely conscious Sunil Perera in hospital. He died on Thursday

The two of them were admitted to Colombo National Hospital for treatment after being assaulted at the Kuruvita remand prison allegedly by prison guards. Mr. Perera died at the hospital on Thursday and an open verdict had been returned regarding his death.

The teachers in the school had complained to police that they had received a call from a Dialog number regarding a bomb threat to the school and subsequently police had arrested the two of them, on the charges of one being the owner of the phone and the other being the suspect caller.

However, it is now known that the two of them were innocent and that neither the school authorities nor the police had properly investigated the alleged call.DIG for the Sabaragamuwa Province, Kingsley Ekanayake told The Sunday Times that the two people who were arrested by the Ratnapura police were innocent. He said the detailed bills received from the Dialog Company and Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd on a court order showed there was no call made from that particular Dialog phone as suspected by police.

He said they were now probing who had actually made the call on June 28.

Questions are now being asked how the teachers had claimed to trace that number through the facility of CLI (Caller Line Identification) and more importantly why the police did not conduct a proper investigation before arresting two innocent men.

A detailed bill issued by the Dialog Company indicated that the caller had not made any calls to the school on that fateful day and that he had made two calls to one SLT line, using his mobile, the number of which is 0773508173.

Some of the wounds that were inflicted on Sunil

It has now been revealed that the mobile was being used by Mr. Perera’s assistant, Gamini Munaweera (the other man who was arrested) although it was registered under the name of Sunil Perera.

According to Mihindu College principal S.M.C. Malkanthi, one of the teachers had received the warning call, and they had traced the call to Mr. Perera’s mobile phone. Defending their actions, she said, there was so much panic that they did not have time to do a thorough check on the tracing of the call through CLI.

Even if the school failed to do so it was the duty of the police to conduct a proper investigation before arresting the two men, fifty-five year old Sunil Perera, a supplier of gas balloons for functions and his assistant, 36-year-old Gamini Munaweera .

When The Sunday Times visited them at hospital on Wednesday, only Gamini was able to recount their tale of horror as Sunil was barely conscious.

“They forced us to kneel and then they assaulted us with sticks. They also shouted at us in foul language. On one occasion they forced us to kneel continuously for about 45 minutes,” Gamini said .

He said the two of them were bleeding from their knees and they pleaded with the guards not to beat them but they continued to do so mercilessly.

“About six of them beat us. I could identify some of them,” Gamini said.

He also claimed that he had complained to the Prison’s Superintendent who had said not to tell anyone about the incident. Gamini also said that he used the particular mobile phone in question but that he never called the school but had given his number to one of the teachers in case they needed their services to supply balloons for any function. He says that in the panic the school authorities would have found their number saved in the phone by the teacher

Meanwhile Kuruwita Prison’s Superintendent Densil Premaratne claims he was not present in the prisons when the alleged assault took place and that Gamini had complained to him on June 3 about the assault but that he thought it was not that serious.

However he says he never told Gamini not to tell anyone about the assault.

CID joins probe on brutal torture

Amidst a national and international controversy over the alleged brutal torture of two remand prisoners and the death of one, the CID has been called in for a full-scale probe.

The Prisons Department and the Justice Ministry are also investigating the circumstances in which Sunil Perera, a father of three children, died after he was allegedly tortured after being remanded at the Kuruwita prison in Ratnapura.

Mr. Perera and another were arrested and remanded on suspicion that they had given a bomb-scare call to a school in Ratnapura but the charge was later proved to be baseless.

Justice Ministry Secretary Suhada Gamlath said an additional secretary would conduct an inquiry.

He said tough action would be taken against the prison guards if there were substantial evidence against them.

Meanwhile Prison officials said two guards had been interdicted pending investigations.

Prisons Commissioner General Vajira Wijegunawardena said yesterday he was awaiting a report from a prison superintendent who was sent to Kuruwita for an inquiry. He also pledged that tough action would be taken against the guards if evidence was found against them.

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