 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Fourteen policemen, including the Officer in Charge of the Angulana Police Post, who were on duty on Wednesday night were taken in for questioning by Mount Lavinia Police yesterday following the deaths of two youths while in police custody, Western Province (South) DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara said.
The bodies of Dinesh Tharanga Fernando (26) and Dhanushka Udayakantha, were recovered yesterday at dawn near the Ratmalana Cooperative Society and the Lunawa Bridge, respectively. Police also recovered some spent bullets from places where the bodies were found.
Following the discovery of the bodies, large crowds flocked along the rail tracks and pelted stones at the Angulana Police Post and the Railway Station causing extensive damage. As a result of large crowds blocking the rail tracks the train service along the coast line was disrupted for nearly 45 minutes.
Reinforcements were rushed from the Mount Lavinia Police and the tracks cleared. At one stage the Police fired into the air to frighten the ever increasing unruly crowd.
According to people in the neighbourhood, the two youths, who had consumed liquor on Wednesday evening had pulled a young girl by her hand when she happened to pass by them. The girl had reported this to the Angulana Police, whom the neighbours alleged had arrested the two youths.
Angulana Police yesterday denied having arrested any of the deceased youth.
The Angulana incident has been reported in the wake of an assault last week by Colombo Crime Division policemen on an Information Technology student Nipuna Ramanayake of the IT Centre at Malabe. The seriously injured student is still undergoing treatment at the National Hospital and according to initial investigations the son of the Director of the Colombo Crime Division SSP Vaas Gunawardena was also involved in the assault on Nipuna. Six policemen including two Sub Inspectors, who were of the CCD had been transferred subsequent to this incident. A special Police team had recorded the statements of the injured student and his mother and are conducting further investigations.
