Handful tarnish police image - IGP

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

The IGP said the Police Department would be cleansed following the recent exposure of ugly incidents at Angulana and Malabe that tarnished the image of the department.

Briefing the media, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jayantha Wickramaratna said at a media conference at the police headquarters Colombo on Friday that stern disciplinary action has been taken against police officers who have committed heinous crimes in the past. He said of the 75,300 police officers only a handful of police officers commit such crimes owing to haphazard recruitment in the past due to the North-East conflict. A proper screening procedure was not adopted to check their antecedents and the suitability of the candidates, he said. Senior DIGs Nimal Mediweka and Nimal Leuke and Anura Senanayake were also present on the occasion.

The IGP said three more persons linked to the murder of two youths at Angulana have been arrested following the investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). A bullet fired from the gun too was recovered at a location in the area. Several other police officers too have given evidence against the suspects. Referring to the assault of an IT student at Malabe eleven police officers were produced in court and remanded he said.He said a haul of LTTE weapons and C4 explosives buried underground in the North-Eastern provinces and in the Western Province have been recovered during the post conflict period by police on tip offs received by LTTE cadres in the detention centres.

The largest amount of TNT explosives was recovered by the Terrorist Investigating Unit. Meanwhile a trawler used to attack the Galle harbour in 2006 was recovered from a person in custody. The LTTE had purchased the trawler for Rs. 30 lakhs and given it to the person for conducting reconnaissance missions. The lorry used to transport LTTE cadres for the attack was also recovered from Akkaraipattu area.

The Police Media Spokesman, Senior DIG Nimal Mediweka said the police have launched a relentless campaign in Colombo to rid the underworld members who have committed heinous crimes such as murder, robbery and rape.

They have terrorised the public in order to prevent them from complaining to the police. Three notorious underworld members were shot dead in a confrontation with the Police Special Task Force on Friday, he added.