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Avissawella SSP heads special Police team probing Rambukkana

20 Apr 2022

  • Prasanna Ranatunga requests HRCSL for separate impartial probe
  • Claims cops acted lawfully and shot after exhausting all measures
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Minister of Public Security Prasanna Ranatunga said that a special Police team headed by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) – Avissawella Wasantha Kandewatta has been appointed to look into the Police shooting at a protest in the Rambukkana area, in which one person was killed and more than 30 were injured, on 19 April. Making a statement yesterday (20) in Parliament regarding the incident, he also said that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) had also been requested to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident. He said: “The protestors had behaved in a violent manner, causing inconvenience to schoolchildren, those who were going to work, and others. The rioters had also set fire to three-wheelers, and when they were about to set fire to a bowser with 33,000 litres of fuel, the Police acted in accordance with their powers to control the situation. By now, a special Police team headed by Kandewatta has been appointed to look into the incident. We have also requested the HRCSL to conduct an impartial inquiry into the incident.” “The Police acted in accordance with the Police Ordinance and the Penal Code. The Police have the necessary powers to do so under Section 56 of the Penal Code. In such a case, a Chief Inspector of Police on duty at the site can make a decision. Only an officer above an Inspector of Police (IP) rank can make such a decision. This incident took place after all other possible measures were taken to control the protest,” he claimed. Speaking after his statement, Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa stated that the SJB completely rejected Ranatunga’s statement regarding the incident. He said: “We, the SJB, completely reject Ranatunga’s statement. He has misled Parliament. The brutality and State terrorism of the Government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are to be blamed for this incident. The Security Forces in particular have been advised to use minimal force in such situations. So we would like to ask the current Government, is firing a use of minimum force? Do barbarism and terrorism constitute minimum force? Is the use of Type-56 firearms minimum force?” He further added that the identity of the SSP who ordered the shooting, as well as the politicians backing him, should be revealed immediately. “Also, to which filling station did the relevant fuel bowser come? Who is the owner of that filling station? Who is the politician behind him? Why did they bring that fuel bowser and keep it until the fuel price went up, without selling it at the old prices? The Government should answer all these questions.” Premadasa added: “No-one who had participated in the protest in Rambukkana had come to set bowsers on fire. The oppressive Government has now become a genocidal Government. The shooting of people protesting for drinking water in Rathupaswala, the shooting of a fisherman protesting for fuel, the assassination of Editor and Lawyer Lasantha Wickrematunge, and the repression of the media all took place while these rulers were in power. Therefore, we will soon oust this murderous Government.” One person was killed and more than 30 others were injured when the Police opened fire on protestors who were engaged in a protest over the prevailing fuel shortage and rising fuel prices, in the Rambukkana area on 19 April. The Police had fired tear gas to disperse protestors who were engaged in the protest blocking the railway track in the area, after which they had opened fire on those who were engaged in the protest.


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