The government has called for a mandatory investigation into remarks made by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam about the Inspector General of Police, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing, Dr. Jayatissa said the comments — made by Kariyawasam, an attorney-at-law and former MP, at a media briefing on Monday — suggested the possibility of the country’s police chief being assassinated in public. He described the statement as an extremely serious matter that could not be dismissed as a casual comment.
”Not an off-the-cuff remark”
Dr. Jayatissa said the statement appeared to have been made deliberately in the setting of a formal media briefing rather than offered spontaneously, and that law enforcement authorities must examine not only the words themselves but the circumstances and implications surrounding them.
He noted that the current Inspector General of Police is actively leading operations against organised crime, underworld networks, drug trafficking and illicit financial activity, work that has produced a significant number of arrests and remand orders. A statement from the general secretary of a political party suggesting the country’s most senior police officer could be killed in public, in that context, warranted a thorough investigation, he said.
Priyantha Weerasooriya has held the post of Inspector General of Police through the current campaign against organised crime, which police have linked to rival drug trafficking networks.
What Kariyawasam said
Ada Derana, reporting on the investigation separately, set out the substance of the remarks. At his media briefing on Monday, the SLPP General Secretary alleged that the current government had placed the police in a difficult position and claimed that three former Inspectors General of Police had faced adverse circumstances under the present administration. He also urged the incumbent IGP to “serve the people instead of the government.”
The Daily Mirror reported the specific remark at the centre of the inquiry. It said Kariyawasam warned that if the IGP failed to do so, he could become “the 37th Inspector General of Police to go down in history after being assaulted to death by members of the public on a main road.”
Two inquiries under way
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala had already indicated that an inquiry would be conducted into the matter, Dr. Jayatissa said.
The Central Crime Investigation Bureau has separately launched a special investigation. Ada Derana reported that the CCIB was acting on the instructions of the IGP himself, who directed that the statement be probed, and that Kariyawasam is expected to be summoned in the coming days to give a statement. Ada Derana’s account referred at different points to both the CCIB and the Criminal Investigation Department as handling the inquiry.
The Daily Mirror likewise carried the CID in its headline while identifying the CCIB in the body of its report, and described the officer who issued the direction as the Acting Inspector General of Police. Which unit ultimately handles the file has not been confirmed by police.
Kariyawasam’s own response to the announcement has not been reported.
