Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala stated that they do not interfere in disciplinary inquiries against Police officers, also adding that there are instances where certain parties make related but exaggerated complaints.

In recent times, there have been several incidents involving Police misconduct including assaults on suspects, deaths in Police custody, and illegal detentions.

When queried by The Daily Morning, he said that there were a large number of disciplinary inquiries against Police officers. “When there is a complaint against a Police officer, there is a process to be followed, and that is being done. We, as the political authority, don’t exert any influence on that process. At the end of the disciplinary inquiries, some officers even lose their jobs,” he said.

He further said that when complaints were investigated, sometimes there was no serious wrongdoing behind the relevant Police officers against whom the complaints had been made. 

“There are many complaints being lodged against Police officers. When they are investigated, we can see that some Police officers have not committed serious offences. That is why we need to look at each case fairly,” he said.

Noting that there was definitely a deterioration in discipline within the Police force, Wijepala, on an earlier occasion, said that they were doing their best to rectify the situation, with 50 to 60 Police officers already suspended over various misconduct-related incidents.