Around seventy-five inmates at the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehab Centre in Welikanda escaped from the facility yesterday (11) evening, according to Rehabilitation Commissioner General, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi.
The incident had occurred when the Army tried to settle a conflict between two groups of inmates, where a group of around 50 inmates have managed to escape from the facility. And while the Army officers were trying to settle the conflict of the detainees addicted to drugs, about another 25 inmates have fled. However, the exact number of those who fled has not been confirmed yet.
Speaking to the Daily News, Police Media Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa confirmed that more than 50 inmates have escaped from the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Centre yesterday evening and out of the inmates who escaped from the Rehabilitation Centre, 23 inmates have been already apprehended by the Welikanda Police so far and are in police custody.
A raid had been carried out in the Somawathiya Forest Reserve area by the Welikanda Police in search of the escaped inmates, together with Special Task Force (STF) and military personnel, who have been deployed in and around the surrounding areas of the Rehabilitation Centre to ensure the safety of the inmates within the facility and those who escaped.
Varuna Dayaratne