Former OIC and constable who killed a deer in Sinharaja to court

The Embilipitiya Magistrate's Court has decided to release on bail the former OIC of Sooriyakanda Police and a police constable who were arrested in connection with the killing of a deer in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.

After the two suspects were produced in court, Embilipitiya Acting Magistrate D.S.B. Dassanayake ordered their release on a personal bail of two hundred thousand rupees each, and the relevant case was scheduled to be called again on March 26.

These two officers were arrested on the 6th, after being summoned for questioning by the Colombo Central Criminal Investigation Department (CCD) on charges of hunting an animal in violation of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance.

In recent days, videos and photographs showing the officers dressed in civilian clothes and carrying a firearm were widely circulated on social media, with residents accusing the police officers of hunting wild animals.

However, it has been reported that the OIC and a team went for a raid based on information that a group of hunters was present in the Lankaberiyawatta area, which falls under the Sooriyakanda Police division, and that the actual suspects fled, leaving behind their firearms at that time.

Police investigations have revealed that residents videoed the police officers returning with the firearm left behind by the fleeing suspects after the raid and released the footage on social media.

With the commencement of investigations into this incident, the Sooriyakanda OIC was transferred to the Ratnapura Police, and the police state that he was also an officer who had led an operation to raid a cannabis cultivation believed to belong to a local politician about one and a half months ago.