Two top level committees, one appointed by the Prime Minister and the other by the National Police Commission (NPC), will conduct separate probes into last Thursday’s police assault on protesting Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) students.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed a special committee headed by Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda to probe the attack. The committee will function independently from the three member committee appointed by the NPC to probe into the same matter.
“While the Police Commission will investigate into the conduct of the Police, the Prime Minister’s commission will look into the broader issue. It will also propose recommendations to resolve the problem,” a senior government spokesman told the Daily News yesterday.
The Prime Minister appointed the commission following a special discussion on Monday morning. Names of the other members of the commission are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe also held a discussion with Public Order Minister Thilak Marapana over the same issue.
The Prime Minister has also instructed the minister to call for a report on the Police attack on university students.
Minister Marapana is scheduled to make a special statement in Parliament today over the police attack. Meanwhile, NCP officials who questioned Acting IGP cum Western Province Senior DIG Pujith Jayasundara and Colombo District DIG Gamini Mathurata over the incident yesterday, decided to appoint a three member committee to investigate the incident.
The NPC which has powers to entertain and investigate public complaints against police officers or the police force from the public or any aggrieved parties had decided to conduct a probe following several complaints including that of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse students during Thursday’s protest by HNDA students opposite the University Grants Commission (UGC) office in Colombo. Seven students and a police constable were injured during the clash.
Police spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said the police used minimum force as the students disrupted the peace and obstructed the police personnel from maintaining law and order.
However images of police officers baton charging the students went viral in the media generating heavy criticism and condemnation of the police action.
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