Relatives of a man who died after being arrested by Mount Lavinia Police and produced before a court have lodged a complaint with the IGP and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
The deceased has been identified as Vasana Susantha Dissanayake, 49, a resident of Pasal Mawatha, Kalubowila.
He is said to have run a motorcycle repair business by profession. His son also runs a motorcycle spare parts shop in Attidiya. Vasana Susantha, who died on March 18, was arrested by the police in Ratmalana while carrying food to her son on his motorbike. There the police asked him to tell you where your luggage was hidden. Since no one knew that he had been arrested, he lied that there was goods near the house and somehow brought the officers closer to the house.
The officers had assaulted him and searched the house and the residents had seen that he had been arrested. He had told his wife Nishanthi that he had been beaten and beaten by police officers who were angry at him for cheating and taking him near the house.
When his wife went to the police station to see him at night on the night of 03-18, he saw that Susantha was in trouble and had said that she would lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission alleging that the police had beaten her husband. The police officers had further assaulted him and told him not to say anything in court the next day and that his wife would continue to send him inside.
When he was produced before the court on 03-19 under the pressure of the police officers, he had said that he would plead guilty. He was produced before the court on the charge of possessing 50 grams of cannabis. He was released after a fine of Rs 10,000 but returned home ill.
He told his wife and relatives that he was tied to a bench and had a water pipe stuck in his nose and then spilled petrol. He also sustained various injuries to his head and back.
When his condition worsened, his wife took him to the Kalubowila Hospital on 03-21 and provided him with residential treatment for five days. Hussein returned home in a few days but did not see Susantha’s former occupants. He gets sick again on the morning of 03-31. Susantha was rushed to the Kalubowila Hospital on the same day and died on the 1st leaving her family with an unresolved issue.
Relatives / friends were upset with his death. Meanwhile, his postmortem examination was carried out at the Kalubowila Hospital and it was stated that the cause of death was pneumonia.
But since the wounds were also on the body and the relatives did not accept the cause of death, the internal parts of the body were finally ordered to be sent to the taster.
Police Media Spokesman, Attorney-at-Law, DIG Ajith Rohana stated that an investigation has been launched into the incident under a Senior Superintendent of Police.
Ajith Rohana said that the inquest will reveal whether any criminal or criminal act was the cause of death. He had stated that further investigations would be conducted accordingly.
