All four Sri Lanka Army personnel who had been indicted on charges of shooting dead three persons and injuring 45 others during a protest by villagers demanding clean drinking water in Rathupaswala in 2013 were today acquitted by the Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar.
Delivering its verdict, the three-judge High Court Trial-at-Bar ordered the acquittal and release of all four accused - a Major and three Army soldiers.
The incident occurred on August 1, 2013, when army personnel opened fire on a protest by villagers in Weliveriya. The villagers were protesting against a factory which they said was contaminating groundwater in their area and were demanding clean drinking water.
A Sri Lankan man was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport for attempting to smuggle wildlife out of the country after three ball pythons were found hidden in his underwear, the Bangkok post reported.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
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