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HRCSL summons IGP and top cops over Rambukkana

20 Apr 2022

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has summoned Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne, the Central Province (CP) Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG), the Central Province DIG, the Kegalle Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), and the Kegalle and Rambukkana Police Station Officers-In-Charge (OICs) to appear before the Commission tomorrow (22) for investigations about the shooting at Rambukkana on Tuesday (19). On Tuesday, the Police opened fire at protestors near the Rambukkana railway crossing, resulting in the death of Chaminda Lakshan and leaving over 30 others injured. A spokesperson for the Kegalle District Hospital told The Morning yesterday (20) that three of them were still receiving Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treatment. In a statement issued to the media yesterday, HRCSL Chair (Retd.) Supreme Court (SC) Judge Justice Rohini Marasinghe said that the Commission has appointed a special team of investigators, consisting of two HRCSL Directors, an HRCSL Deputy Director, a lawyer, and an HRCSL official, to investigate the Rambukkana shooting.  The HRCSL aims specifically to find out who gave the order to shoot and why live ammunition was used. The team hopes to gather information from the protestors, police officers, media personnel who were present covering the incident, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), and hospital staff. Based on the final report, the HRCSL will provide recommendations to the Government. For further investigations, the aforementioned police officials have been ordered to appear before the Commission tomorrow, the statement further said. After the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) announced a fuel price hike with effect from midnight on Monday (18), filling stations in the Rambukkana area had stopped issuing fuel. However, the people who were waiting in queues near filling stations until midnight that day, started a protest in the Rambukkana area, demanding the release of fuel at the old prices. Accordingly, they staged a protest on 19 April from 1.30 a.m., blocking the Colombo-Kandy railway line in the Rambukkana area.


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