A complaint has lodged to The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), against Yakkalamulla Police in Galle district with regarding case of arresting and assaulting a civilian.
The victim is Koggala Wellalage Sisira Kumara, a resident of Hospital Road, Aluthwatta, Nakiyadeniya, in Galle.
On 9th May, he has gone to Dimuthu pharmacy at Yakkalamulla Junction to buy some medicine at around 09.00 – 09.30 p.m .
While he was there, he has heard the sound of exploding firecrackers near the Yakkalamulla junction, 30 – 40 meters away from the pharmacy. At that moment he has come out with the pharmacy owner to look who was lighting the firecrackers with this corona pandemic. There they saw firecrackers being lighting near the statue at the junction.
Later the owner went back to the pharmacy and Sisira remained there to see what is going on.
Yakkalamulla police station was located near there. Sisira saw one police officer in uniform and more than ten police officers in civilian clothes approaching the place where firecracker lightened and stopped a cyclist on the road near and started to assault him.
Later, a police officer in civilian attire reached out to Sisira, said something and started beating him asking “Are you the person who
lighten firecrackers?”
At that time the owner of the pharmacy has come out and said that he (Sisira) was a his customer and has come to take some medicine. But the police did not listen and took him to the adjoin police station.
There too, he was beaten by police. At around 9.45 – 10.00 pm, the owner and an employee of the communication center where Sisira works came to the police and asked for an opportunity to talk to him, but the police had reprimanded them and chased them away. At around 10.30 that night, Mr. Dimuthu, the owner of Dimuthu Pharmacy, has taken CCTV footage to a mobile phone, pointed it out to the Acting OIC and demanded to release Sisira, claiming that he (Sisira) was innocent.
The police officer had checked the relevant CCTV cameras and released him at around 10.00 am on the 10th May stating that this was a small mistake.
After being released by police Sisira had to be treated at the Karapitiya hospital for two days, as the police assaults were serious.
Now Sisira request from the relevant authorities to conduct a formal, speedy, impartial and fair investigation and enforce the law.
