Did Hambantota boy disappear or did police make him disappear?

Did Hambantota boy disappear or did police make him disappear?

One out of three boys who were taken into custody by Hambantota Police on the 5th evening in connection with a theft of paddy has been missing for the last week. 

These three youth aged 19, 20 and 25 years living in Weligaththa area Bandagiriya were arrested on

suspicion of having robbed 12 sacks of paddy from a private rice mill. It is the 20 year old youth by the name of G.G. Gayashan who is missing. It is understood that one of the three boys is the son of a police officer and the missing youth is living in a house about 100 metres away from the said rice mill. What one of the boys who came to the police station with the boy who disappeared said was that the police that day had assaulted the boy concerned forcing him to plead guilty to the offence. The police has later said that when Gayeshan was escorted to the toilet because of a stomach ailment he had scooted away and had thus disappeared.

The disappeared boy's mother Mrs. R.C. Mansina has expressed herself over the incident in this manner: "On the evening of last 5th my son said he was going to the lakeside to bring some fish. Because he was getting late to come home I gave him a call. It was someone else who answered from son's phone that time. The person who answered asked as to who I was. I said I am Gayeshan's mother. Then the person who answered my son's phone told that my son is being taken to the police and asked me to come to the police and see. When I asked why he's being taken, he didn't tell the reason.

Later both my eldest son and son-in-law went to the police that night. When they went my son had been handcuffed and was in the cell. After that my eldest son took meals for the night for my son in the cell. But on visiting him the following morning at the police station he wasn't in the cell. Only the other two were there. When they were asked where Gayeshan was, they said that they don't know. We asked the police where he was and then what the police said was that they took him out in the night when he said that he wants to go to the toilet and that he had scooted away that instance. This story we can't believe. On the other hand we know that my son has not committed an offence serious enough for him to be taken into custody. When my eldest son went he was told that the police had badly assaulted him. We complained about this to the Hambantota Assistant Superintendent of Police. But upto now there's no consolation as such".

G.G. Roshan Kumara the eldest brother of the missing youth had this to say: "When I went to see malli he said that he was badly beaten up by the police. Apart from that the sergeant of Ambalantota Police too had come and assaulted malli threatening him to admit guilt to this offence. When I went to the police in the morning only two out of the three who were there were in the police cell. Malli was not to be seen in the cell. We asked the two of them where malli was. They said that they didn't know. When we asked the police where malli was, the police would say various things at various times. I saw with my own eyes that malli was inside the cell the previous day. When circumstances were such, the police say that such a person was not taken into custody. At another time they are saying that after being in the cell he had said that he wanted to go to the toilet and that he had then scooted away.

We can't understand what happened to malli. If he did run away it should be to a relative's house that he should go to. But malli is nowhere. We searched everywhere. What we ask is to search for malli and find him for us. The other thing is that out of the three who were arrested, it's my malli and Sanjeewa Prabath who had been assaulted by the police. That malli also had fallen sick and was admitted for treatment to Hambantota Hospital. My malli had been severely assaulted by the police asking him to accept guilt for an offence he had not committed".

Four police teams have been deployed to search for the boy who had disappeared as reported yesterday and it was after the police had followed a silent attitude for about 6 days after the incident had taken place and under whose custody the disappeared boy was. A special inquiry by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Tangalla is underway in respect of this incident while 5 police personnel inclusive of the officer-in-charge of Hambantota Police have been subjected to transfer by now.

Information -- Ajith Pushpakumara