Police Headquarters has transferred a group of senior officers, including five Senior Deputy Inspectors General, in a reshuffle that takes effect subject to the approval of the National Police Commission.

Under the changes, SDIG Sampath Kumara moves from the Special Bureau to the Eastern Province, and SDIG Kithsiri Jayalath, previously in charge of the Southern Province, takes charge of Sabaragamuwa Province.

SDIG K.P. Karunaratne, who headed the Special Protection Division, has been appointed Senior DIG in charge of the Northern Province. SDIG Buddhika Siriwardena, who previously held the Northern Province post, moves to the Southern Province.

SDIG Waruna Jayasundara has been given additional duties as Director of Training and Advanced Training while continuing his responsibilities at the Children and Women’s Bureau.

Police Headquarters has also transferred six Assistant Superintendents of Police. Among them, ASP Namal Perera moves from Director of the Galle District Crimes Division to the Police Field Force.

All the transfers require the National Police Commission’s approval before they take effect. The Commission is the constitutional body responsible for appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary control of police officers other than the Inspector General of Police.

The reshuffle comes as the force handles a heavy security workload, with police and Special Task Force personnel deployed this week to contain disturbances at several prisons and security tightened around senior officials following an arrest near the residences of the IGP and the Chief Justice.

Update — August 8: outlets differ on the number moved

NewsFirst and Hiru News reported on Saturday that four Senior DIGs had been transferred with immediate effect, one fewer than the five named in Friday’s Daily Mirror and Ada Derana reports.

NewsFirst listed the four by initials as W.K. Jayalath, W.S.E. Jayasundara, U.P.A.D.K.P. Karunanayake and G.M.H.B. Siriwardena. Those appear to correspond to four of the officers named in Friday’s reporting — Kithsiri Jayalath, Waruna Jayasundara, K.P. Karunaratne and Buddhika Siriwardena — although NewsFirst renders the third surname as Karunanayake rather than Karunaratne. Sampath Kumara, whose move from the Special Bureau to the Eastern Province was reported on Friday, does not appear in the Saturday lists.

Neither NewsFirst nor Hiru gave the posts each officer moves from or to. Police Headquarters has not published a consolidated list, and LankaNewz has not been able to establish whether the discrepancy reflects a fifth transfer being reported separately, withdrawn, or simply omitted.

The two accounts also describe the National Police Commission’s role differently. The Daily Mirror reported on Friday that the transfers were made subject to the Commission’s approval; NewsFirst reported on Saturday that they were carried out with the Commission’s approval. It is not clear whether approval was granted between the two filings.

NewsFirst named the six transferred Assistant Superintendents as C.A.B. Jayasundara, A.D. Seneviratne, A.P.N.S.S. Perera, W.A.K.I.P. Premathilaka, D.M.S.P.K. Dissanayake and N.P. Thushantha, also without posts.

Sources: Daily Mirror, Ada Derana, NewsFirst, Hiru News.