The Department of Police has drawn attention from the public for assaulting and detaining an autistic child and then apprehending a minor until the minor’s father (suspect) arrived at the police station. Police Media Spokesperson SP Jaliya Senaratne said the recent allegations against the Police Department and its officers over the said incidents have been heavily misinterpreted by the media. “During the Aluthgama incident, the police personnel that were posted at the checkpoint were carrying out their duty. The minor had passed the checkpoint once and when the Police asked him to stop, he failed to do so. And when he passed the second time, they had apprehended the minor. Any incident which takes place at the checkpoint needs to be reported to the area police station, and these officers had failed to record the incident and based on that, were interdicted,” he said. According to SP Senaratne, the Police have the power to bring in any person who is breaking regulations, be it a minor or an adult, and take necessary action. Upon learning that it was a minor, the Police had handled the incidents accordingly and did not detain the minor after the parent had explained his condition. When asked about the Elpitiya incident, SP Senaratne noted that the Police did not apprehend the minor but had requested him to accompany the Police unit to locate the father who was in a different area. Accordingly, the minor acted as an accomplice to locate the suspect, who was his father, and it was only the minor who knew where to locate him.