Over 125,000 sent behind bars in 2013

by S.M. Wijayaratne, Kurunegala Cor

Over 125,000 persons had served prison sentences during 2013, according to a recent survey by the Department of Prisons. Of them, 8,000 were convicted by Courts. The rest were in remand custody.

Among those found guilty by Courts, 65 percent were for cases related to harmful drugs.

There were criminals who had committed offences of delinquency. The Ministry of Prison Reforms and Rehabilitation will launch programs to rehabilitate the prisoners who had committed offences on drugs since this year.

Rs. 2.5 million will be invested in the rehabilitation of these prisoners who are drug addicts, during 2014.

With the help of school principals in the Kurunegala and Puttalam districts of the NWP, 500 education programs will be conducted in schools in the province to advise senior school students on the evil consequences of consuming harmful drugs and their danger to mental and physical health.