Acting IGP Pujith To Appear Before Police Commission Over Attack On Students

November 1, 2015

Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara, the Acting Inspector General of Police will appear before the National Police Commission (NPC), tomorrow over an investigation conducted by the NPC into the brutal assault carried out by the riot Police on protesting students in front of the University Grants Commission on Thursday

DIG Pujith Jayasundara

Jayasundara was appointed Acting IGP today due to IGP N.K. Illangakoon going abroad for an official visit.

Appearing before the commission will be one of the first tasks for Pujith Jayasundara as the Acting IGP. At the time of the assault on Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) program students on Thursday Jayasundara was the senior DIG for Western Province.

In addition to Jayasundara several other senior Police officers too have been summoned by the newly formed NPC after Asian Human Rights Commission lodged a complaint urging a probe.

In addition, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka too have launched a separate investigation into the assault on students last Thursday.

Scenes of police assaulting students with batons and sticks after using water canons and tear gas went viral in the media generating wide spread condemnation.

However Police media Spokesperson ASP Ruwan Gunasekara defended the assault noting the police used minimum force to disperse students who had disrupted the peace and obstructed the police from maintaining the law and order.

Gunasekera also criticised the role played by the media describing that some edited pictures were shown in a deliberate attempt to portray the Police action in a negative light.

Meanwhile, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) today called for a report of the probe into the police assault on students to be submitted to Parliament.                            Read More