The group that insulted the President at Mattala by saying bad words and broadcasted live on Facebook has been arrested - Transfers for the police who did not take action.

Five individuals who obstructed the duties of police officers and verbally abused the President and police officers with harsh words, stemming from a seatbelt incident at the Mattala Expressway entrance, have been ordered to be remanded until the 20th of this month after being produced before the Hambantota Magistrate's Court. Hambantota Police had arrested them and presented them to court on charges of releasing videos related to this incident to the internet and obstructing police officers' duties.

Police did not permit this bus to enter the expressway, citing several violations including the absence of seatbelts. Angered by this, one person from the bus got out and attempted to create a disturbance. Frustrated by their unwillingness to comply with the law, he went live on Facebook, creating a video where he cursed, saying, 'Try to share as much as possible, they won't let this bus go, Anura [expletive], [expletive], [expletive], putting rules on the highway Mahinda built... They are governing by stealing Mahinda's money. They only impose rules on us, look, there are no rules for others...' and so on. In this video, he repeatedly curses the President and insults officials. The video also shows him later deciding to leave with the 20 people on the bus via the non-expressway road.

The suspects remanded include Roshan Maduranga Wijesinghe, 33, a resident of Wellawaya who was the bus driver, Thilina Dinesh Hettiarachchi, 40, a resident of Katana, K. S. Susantha, 37, A. T. Malshan, 33, and G. L. K. Darshana.

This incident was reported on the 16th at the Mattala entrance when a group from Negombo, returning from a pilgrimage to Kataragama, was traveling back to Negombo. Police officers were preparing to enforce the law because the passengers in the bus were not wearing seatbelts. At that moment, several individuals who disembarked from the bus argued with the police officers, videoed them with their mobile phones, verbally abused the President and police officers with obscene language, behaved riotously, and subsequently released those videos on social media.

The bus involved in the incident has been taken into police custody. Police state that it is scheduled to be presented to the motor vehicle inspector for examination regarding several technical defects and illegal modifications, including an unsafely installed white iron fence that covered its front number plate.

During investigations conducted by Hambantota Headquarters Police regarding this incident, the suspects were identified as residents of Katana and arrested yesterday (17). Due to the failure to enforce the law in the face of the suspects' impulsive behavior at the time of the incident, senior police officers have taken steps to transfer the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Mattala entrance to Police Headquarters, and the relevant sergeant and constable to the Kadawatha and Kottawa expressway checkpoints.

Under the instructions and guidance of senior police officers, including Deputy Inspector General of Police W. P. K. Senadheera (in charge of Traffic Division), Senior Superintendent of Police Mayura Perera (Director of the Expressway Traffic Division), and Senior Superintendent of Police Nipun Dehigama (in charge of Tangalle Division), a team of officers led by Hambantota Headquarters Chief Police Inspector Jagath Wijaya Gunaratne took steps to present the suspects to court.

Watch the video related to this incident ›