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CID to record Rambukkana statements again

26 Apr 2022

  • Statements taken down by others to be re-recorded
BY Dinitha Rathnayake The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) will re-record statements previously recorded by others on the Police shooting in Rambukkana on 19 April, that led to the killing of one protestor, Police Media Spokesman Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa told The Morning yesterday (25). The CID has already commenced recording statements in this regard, and stated that the re-recording will be carried out due to the seriousness of the incident, which has sparked widespread outrage in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the youth who was taken into custody for attempting to set fire to the fuel bowser during the escalation of the tense situation in Rambukkana during a protest was meanwhile released on bail. The arrestee is reportedly a 27-year-old, and the arrest was made by the CID on 22 April. On 19 April, residents of Rambukkana, who were staging a protest, demanding fuel to be supplied at the old prices, had blocked all entry and exit roads into the Rambukkana Town, as well as the level crossing, for more than 15 hours. This had obstructed the vehicular movement and train operations on the main line. As a tense situation ensued near the level crossing, the Police fired tear gas to disperse the protestors. Later, as the situation escalated, the Police opened fire on them, killing one person. It was confirmed that the victim had died of gunshot injuries. When the case pertaining to the incident was taken up at the Kegalle Magistrate’s Court on 22 April, the SSP in charge of Kegalle divulged that he gave officers orders to open fire below the knees of the protestors who attempted to set fire to a fuel bowser during the tense situation. According to him, he had first ordered Police personnel to fire into the air when the protestors had tried to set fire to a filling station, and later to shoot below the knee to prevent major damage after the protestors attempted to set fire to a fuel bowser. Following the incident, Inspector General of Police Chandana D. Wickramaratne directed the CID to conduct an impartial, comprehensive probe into the incident. The CID thereby took over the investigations pursuant to Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act. Meanwhile, Bar Association of Sri Lanka President President’s Counsel (PC) Saliya Pieris, in a letter to Wickramaratne, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Chairperson retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Rohini Marasinghe, and the National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses, urged them to ensure that there is no interference whatsoever with the witnesses by the Police.


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