A
brilliant constable, Weligama Liyanarachchige Sunil, who joined the STF and
then later transferred to the Prevention of Corruption Unit of Matara Police
Division, was brutally murdered in his bed along with his wife, Apsara by a
gang of at least four, one of whom was identified as Katayam Chinthaka a
neighbor and an underworld gangster.
One
of the gang Sumith Priyadarshana (an ex-commando of the Sri Lanka Army) was arrested
and admitted involvement in the murder. The police reported he was shot dead when
attacking the police when they were taken to show where the arms were hidden. Then today, two more of the suspects were reported killed in the early hours of the morning, when they jumped into the Denagama
river, whilst trying to escape from Police custody! The police said the two suspects
jumped into the river after they were taken to a hideout in search of weapons said
to have been hidden by them!!!!
The
heinous crime of the double killing must be properly solved and accused found guilty,
and punished to the full extent of the law. It is a capital crime and if guilty
warrant the death sentence.
What
actually happened I cannot say for certain but follows a typical pattern put out
by the police. I wish they could be a little bit more imaginative on how they describe
the killings!
The
standard explanation when police kill suspects is to say they were shot whilst struggling
with the police when taken to show where the weapons were hidden.
Why
do the police kill suspects? Sri Lankans do not make a hue and cry about it as murderers
get their just deserts and that is part of the karuma of living, paying the price
for our sins. This punitive justice is what we are known the world over for and
is part of why there is a case in the HR courts and why the world is also after
us.
The
more sinister reason though is that the big Kahuna behind the drug peddling and
murders is free or will not face justice and the lord of the Drug Peddling in the
South gets Police protection. Why? There is no trial to point out who and why the
killing took place, as the suspects are now dead! period. The police killer gets
killed by the police, and that is all they want.
It is well known amongst all circles in Sri Lanka that almost all police killings of suspects follow this pattern.
ReplyDeleteSo no one talks about it. This is not JUSTICE as too many UNDERWORLD Govt. people are being protected by the fact that two bit gangsters who do their dirty work get snuffed out like this. There is NO trial where the real culprit big whig will be exposed, so those of you smug people who do not expose this shame, perpetuate a culture of impunity for the Police, the Govt. and all the Underworld by your silence!
Act up and change the rules of the game for the betterment of the people of Sri Lanka.
https://www.facebook.com/lankaenews?hc_location=timeline
ReplyDeleteMurders and extrajudicial killings -A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission--------
(Lanka-e-News-27.Nov.2013, 3.30PM) On November 22, a suspect in the killing of a police constable and his wife was himself killed after arrest. The suspect was a 30-year-old former instructor of the Commando Battalion of the army. It is alleged that he was taken to identify some weapons and when he attempted to attack the police with one of the weapons he was shot dead. Two more persons related to the inquiry into the same murders were also killed after arrest. It is alleged that these two suspects were also taken for the identification of weapons and that during the search they both jumped into the nearby lake at Denagumuwa and drowned. It is also reported that the police are still looking for the main suspect of the murders. It would not come as any surprise if, when this person e main suspect is arrested, there would be a similar report of his being taken to search for weapons and that he too was killed as he tried to attack the police.
The inquiry into the deaths of the policeman and his wife is being conducted under the supervision of the Senior DIG for the Southern Province, Chandara Wickremaratna, and the DIG, McCarthy Perera.
The killing of the policeman and his wife is without doubt a horrible crime. The fact that they were killed, allegedly due to the inquiries that the policeman was involved in further add to the gravity of the crime. Besides, the killing of the family of a policeman in retaliation to lawful inquiries that he has been carrying out and that the crimes have been done in front of the victim's children all adds to the horrendous nature of the crime.
The fact that the first person to be arrested and later to be killed was a former instructor of the Commando Battalion of the army is also quite significant. In many of the crimes reported in recent times the fact that the alleged suspects have been former members of the Sri Lankan armed forces should be a matter of concern to the military, the government and the society at large. That persons who were members of the armed forces had taken so easily to crime around the country reflects on the kind of discipline within the armed forces. Despite of the repetition of such crimes over the last few years no serious inquiry has been undertaken, either by the armed forces or the government on this issue.
Instead of making inquiries into such serious matters the method that has been adopted is to extrajudicially execute the alleged criminals. This means that the senior officers in charge of inquiries into these crimes approves of such executions which is an indication of a grave breakdown of the morale within the police service. Killings and counter-killings have thus become the manner in which criminals and the police appear to engage with each other.
The fact that former members of the armed forces are taking to crime, the crimes themselves becoming increasingly more brutal and the method of dealing with these crimes being extrajudicial executions are frightening indications of the breakdown of the society as a whole. That such a breakdown exists is not a new revelation and this matter has been commented on for many years now by numerous bodies. What is shocking is the complete absence of any response by the government to this state of affairs.
That such extrajudicial killings take place in inquiries directly supervised by two Deputy Inspector Generals of Police is an indication that, as a matter of policy the government approves of such killings. If it was otherwise these killings would have led to inquiries into all the officers involved, including the two Deputy Inspector Generals.
The Asian Human Rights Commission once again draws the attention of the government as well as society as a whole to the rapid collapse of the law and societal morale indicated by the crimes as well as the manner in which the crimes are dealt with.
http://www.w3lanka.com/2013/12/blog-post_3.html
ReplyDeleteFurther evidence that all 4 suspects in the murder have been killed and the reason being that the VVIP who gave the contract for his killing is protected by the police, and will not now come to light!
Worthy of a read to get a balance in this Island Editorial on this same issue on 4th December after Katayam was also intentionally killed by the Police
ReplyDeletehttp://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=news-section&page=news-section&code_title=42.
More from newspapers on this topic on 6th Dec 2013
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ceylontoday.lk/52-49207-news-detail-killed-in-dodgy-circumstance.html