65 cops in Katugastota Police interdicted for having purposely misplaced records and deleted CCTV clips .... to support drug dealers!

65 cops in Katugastota Police interdicted for having purposely misplaced records and deleted CCTV clips .... to support drug dealers!

Because of an incident where a police entry book and a case receipt book were made to disappear, leaving the suspects to remain scot free, thus supporting them in which instance a case could have well been filed against the drug-traffickers concerned, 65 cops have been interdicted with immediate effect.

The instance where the said 2 books were made to disappear has been recorded in CCTV camera

installed within the premises. Having come to know that an inquiry was to begin, the CCTV data footage inside the OIC's room too has been deleted by some officer and as a result where a few had to answer to this malpractice, 65 cops had to suffer for it and the whole lot finally were transferred as a consequence.

Among those who faced this transfer were 3 inspectors of police, 6 sub-inspectors, 17 police sergeants, 36 police constables and 3 drivers who had been serving at Katugastota Police. Among those who were transferred in this connection are also the officer-in-charge of the vice squad unit and officer-in-charge of the traffic division.

This was the first occasion in recent times where a large number of police officers have been transferred within a single police division, it is stated. This disciplinary procedure of action was launched because inquiries pertaining to an inspection conducted by the police officer-in-charge about the police entry books that were misplaced in relation to the 2 missing books on instructions of a drug racketeer who had been directing an incident related to a suspect employed at a soft drinks company arrested with 3 grammes of heroin in his possession at Kandy recently. These transfers have been implemented on the grounds of malpractices and for having served for a long period of time.

Certain officers have remained there for over a period of 5 years with the support of various political support. They had been for quite some time associating racketeers and extracting bribes from them and thus engaged in malpractices in the police service, it was revealed at investigations. Complaints have been received to the effect that several officers of Katugastota Police have maintained intimate connections with drug racketeers as well as those linked to nefarious activities and have been used to the practice of stripping people who come to lodge a complaint there.

The police sergeant who misplaced the 'B' report which was to be forwarded to courts containing information relating to items and also the police entry book where all relevant information is recorded concerning the suspect who was apprehended with 3 grammes of heroin in his possession was subjected to interdiction, it was reported.