Court orders investigation into the 'killing on the road' statement by the current IGP

Kaduwela Magistrate Aruna Indrajith Buddadasa has granted permission to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to commence investigations into the alleged statement made by Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam, General Secretary of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and former Member of Parliament, regarding Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya. In addition, the Magistrate yesterday (06) also ordered all media channels that reported the press conference containing the relevant statement to provide unedited video footage related to that event to the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Magistrate issued these orders after considering a request made in court by Mr. Kamal Ariyawansa, Director of the Criminal Investigation Department and Assistant Superintendent of Police, and a progress report of the investigations conducted regarding the incident.

The Assistant Superintendent of Police explained to the court that at a recent press conference, former Member of Parliament Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam had stated, 'Current IGP Priyantha Weerasuriya should stop serving the government and serve the state and the people. I do not want Priyantha Weerasuriya to go down in history as the 37th IGP who died on the street after being beaten by people.'

Assistant Superintendent of Police Kamal Ariyawansa, pointing out that the statement made by former Member of Parliament Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam at the press conference constituted a threat to Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya, requested the court for permission to commence investigations into that threat.