[Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of Roshan Chanaka]
Former IGP Mahinda Balasuriya who resigned from his position as the IGP following the violent situation took place in Katunayake in 2011,has been appointed as Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order is to officially assume duties on Tuesday (Oct. 21), reports Sri Lanka Mirror.
A Young worker Roshen Chanaka Ratnasekera was killed during a police attack on protesting workers from the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) on May 30. Ratnasekera, who was just 21, suffered a bullet wound to his leg. He was left untreated and bled for two hours in police custody, before being taken to a hospital. He died on June 1. The police have not yet released the official Judicial Medical Officer’s report into the causes of Ratnasekera’s death.
Ratnasekera was one of more than 200 workers injured when police attacked and shot at crowds demonstrating against the government’s planned pension scheme, which undermined wages and benefits. In response to the police violence, the entire Katunayake FTZ of more than 40,000 workers stopped work, threatening to trigger broader protests.
Shocked by the extent of the unrest, the government temporarily withdrew the legislation, and sought talks with the trade unions and opposition parties. It is also desperately seeking to cover up its own responsibility for the police violence by putting the sole blame on the police officers involved.
The country’s top police officer, Mahinda Balasuriya, was forced to resign. President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed a one-man judicial commission on May 30 to investigate the police attack on FTZ workers and report within five days. Three years later, no report has been issued. (- wsws)
Mahinda Balasuriya is to assume duties at Sethsiripaya in Battaramulla at 9.55 am.
It is said that particular appointment was made targeting the presidential election.
Balasuriya is presently the Sri Lankan ambassador to the UAE, a post he was appointed to after retirement from the police department.
He joined the Police Department in 1978 and was appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) on November 2, 2009 following the retirement of the then IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne.
Maj. Gen. (Rtd) Nanda Mallawarachchi, was the first Secretary to the Ministry of Law and Order, which was established in August 2013.