Extremism won't be tolerated ; Acting Police Chief issues warning

Extremist groups which destabilize the country by acting violently in the face of innocent and unarmed people will not be tolerated, Acting IGP C D Wickramaratne said.

Issuing a special statement on the current situation of the country, the Acting IGP noted that police curfew was imposed in Kuliyapitiya after a drunken mob had vandalized shops in the area.

He noted that the decision to impose an island-wide curfew was taken in order to prevent acts of violence from erupting in the country.

The Acting IGP warned all extremist elements to refrain from assuming that the patience of the Police was a weakness of the Police Department.

“The Police played an important role in defeating the ruthless terrorists in a war which spanned three decades. Small extremist groups are not a challenge for the Police,” Mr. Wickramaratne warned.

In his statement, the Acting IGP said that a small group of extremists had taken the people’s lives for granted while a majority were supporting security personnel irrespective of their faiths in order to conduct the investigations into last month’s terror attacks.

He urged that relatives and close associates of extremists must take steps to create awareness and advise the latter against breaking the law. “Otherwise the Police will have to show these individuals the power of the law,” the Acting Police Chief forewarned.

On the same lines, he added that the suspects who have been arrested for causing violence in the country, will not be granted bail.

“They would be sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment,” he said while urging that acts of extremism must be stopped immediately in the country.