Planters’ Association condemns mob attack on trainee | Daily News

Planters’ Association condemns mob attack on trainee

The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PAC) yesterday issued a statement decrying the violence that was instigated at the Park Estate in Kandapola on January 12 by a Parliamentarian who represents the plantation sector.

The Association called for an impartial investigation into the brutal attack on a Trainee Assistant Superintendent who has been admitted to the Nuwaraeliya General Hospital after the attack.

The victim was reportedly has received severe injuries and was experiencing respiratory difficulties. The gang who attacked the trainee has been transported from outside of the region by two busses allegedly facilitated by the MP.

The PA also called for further investigations to ascertain the extent of damage the mob has done to the Estate Manager’s Bungalow and grounds – all of which are classified as State property of significant historical value.

“The conduct of the Parliamentarian is utterly disgraceful and totally unacceptable from any citizen, let alone a duly elected representative of the people of Sri Lanka. We call on legal authorities to uphold the rule of law and take swift action to ensure that the perpetrators of this brutal attack are immediately arrested, charged for their violent and illegal actions, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” the PA stated.

The attack took place following a phone call by the Parliamentarian to the Estate Superintendent in which the MP demanded an immediate meeting on January 17 around 5.30 pm.

The Estate Superintendent had calmly and politely suggested an alternate date, given that he was on leave at that moment and driving to Kandy to purchase essential cancer medication for his father in-law.

Dissatisfied with this response, the MP had lashed out in a crude verbal assault against the Estate Superintendent who hung up the call. Thereafter, the Parliamentarian coerced workers at the estate to give him the Estate Superintendent’s wife’s number and verbally abused her as well, according to the eye-witnesses of the phone call.

Subsequently, MP Rameshwaran, together with Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, , travelled to the estate with two busses full of people from outside the region to gather a mob and incite them to violence. Around 5.30 pm, MP Rameshwaran and Yogaraj forcibly and unlawfully entered the bungalow along with the mob.

A young Trainee Assistant Superintendent who was present at the time had tried to de-escalate the sudden tense situation but was brutally assaulted by the mob. After the vicious assault, the Parliamentarian and his thugs prevented anyone from entering or exiting the premises. They unlawfully detained those present, including the victim who was denied any medical attention or assistance for at least five hours after the attack.

The Police Special Task Force and local police removed the Trainee Assistant Superintendent from the premises under armed escort and transported him to the Nuwara Eliya Hospital where he remains under treatment at present.

“At a time when Regional Plantation Companies are making every possible endeavour to keep the industry and our national economy afloat by managing the estates in a manner that safeguards the livelihood of the plantation community, these kinds of random violent outbursts have undone a lot of our efforts, and will ultimately hurt the workers most,” the Association said in the statement.