House of key witness in Welikada prison riot shot at

Wednesday, 6 September 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The house of a key witness in the Welikada prison riot was shot at last night but no one was injured.

The witness, Sudesh Nandimal, told the Colombo Gazette gunmen opened fire from outside the house and fled.

He said that at least three spent bullets were found after the shooting and the Police were investigating the incident.

Nandimal had recently gone public with what he saw when the riot took place at the prison in 2012. Nandimal had also submitted a petition to President Maithripala Sirisena alleging that the riot in the prison, in which 27 inmates were killed, had been carried out by a top police officer based on an order given by the then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

A resident in the Tissamaharama area, Nandimal has said in his letter to the President that STF armed personnel had created a riot after storming the place and thrown tear gas at the detainees. At this point, army vehicles with mortars and snipers have entered the prison and officials of the Commando regiment, state intelligence service officials and officials from the Terrorist Investigation Division as well as the Director General of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board had arrived in the prison and taken a list of detainees. Later these detainees were taken out and shot dead the detainee alleged in his letter. Nandimal had stated that entering a prison by force is a violation of the Prison Act and the accepted international laws in this regard. He further noted that the report issued by the special presidential commission appointed to investigate the prison riot cannot be accepted since it has been prepared to achieve the political aspirations of the former Government. (Colombo Gazette)