News
Curfew last night; tight security for next two days; Monday a public holiday
View(s):By Damith Wickremasekera
The Government last night declared an all-island precautionary curfew as it put in place special security arrangements for the next 48 hours to ensure that there will be no breach of the peace in the post-election period, Public Security Ministry Secretary Viyani Gunathilaka said yesterday.
The Government has also declared Monday a public holiday.
The decision was announced by the Public Administration Ministry yesterday. The special security arrangements have been put in place following a meeting of the National Security Council presided by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and attended by armed forces commanders and other top security officials.
Around 40,000 police personnel, including those from the Special Task Force (STF), would be deployed throughout the country to ensure that mischief-makers did not engage in destructive acts during the period between the conclusion of the election, the announcement of the results, and the period preceding it, the Secretary said.
“There were 65,000 police personnel on duty on election day. After the end of voting, around some were freed to be deployed for general security duties. Army personnel too are standing by in case a need for additional security arises,” Mr. Gunathilake said.
He said special security arrangements had been put in place for the safety of parliamentarians and former presidents and to protect important government buildings such as the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, Parliament, and the Prime Minister’s Office.
He said that groups gathering in any area in the country would be dispersed promptly, and local curfews would be imposed if the need arose.
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