An investigation has been launched into an incident, where a Superintendent of Police (SP) is alleged to have paraded, and had thereafter cut the hair of three suspects in public, the DIG in charge of the Anuradhapura Division, B.A.D. Padmasiri, said.
The three suspects, who are alleged to have burgled a house in Rajangane, in the Thambutthegama Police Division, had been taken into custody by the Rajangane Police for stealing Rs 140,000 in cash as well as jewellery.
Subsequently, the police had recovered Rs 2,000 in cash and jewellery worth Rs 98,000.
The suspects had been detained by the police pending their appearance before the Nochchiyagama Circuit Court…..when the SP in charge of the Rajangane Police, Jeyu Ramawickrema, had arrived at the police station and had taken the suspects in a jeep to the Rajangane Yaya Division, where they were paraded before the public, after which their hair had been cut, according to the complaint lodged in this regard.
Thereafter, it was alleged that the suspects had been brought back to the police station, and were brutally assaulted. Some residents of Rajangane had reportedly videoed the SP cutting the hair of the suspect, and sources said they are ready to forward the footage if called to do so, at an investigation.
The suspects were later produced before the Nochchiyagama Circuit Court. Magistrate, Ranjith Kekirideniya, released one of the suspects on bail while the other two were remanded till 11 November.
by Ananda Weerasuriya CT