Authorities have stepped up security at prisons across Sri Lanka following the violent unrest at Mahara Prison that left one inmate dead and caused extensive damage to the facility.
Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Sajeewa Medawatta said special security measures and close monitoring have been put in place at all prisons nationwide, the Daily Mirror reported. Additional attention has been directed at Welikada, Magazine, Kalutara and Negombo prisons in particular, he said, to prevent similar incidents.
Lockdown continues at Mahara
Security measures around Mahara Prison itself remain in force, police said. Police Spokesman Assistant Superintendent F.U. Wootler said officers of the Special Task Force, the regular police and several specialised units have been deployed to strengthen security at the prison, NewsFirst reported.
The Department of Prisons said visitors will not be allowed to meet inmates at Mahara on Monday or Tuesday, because of damage to the visitors’ meeting area.
The 104 inmates transferred out of Mahara after the unrest have been distributed among the Dumbara, Welikada, Boossa, Kalutara, Badulla, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa prisons. A list of their names has been posted near the roadblock at the entrance to Mahara Prison.
The incident behind the measures
The unrest began on the afternoon of Saturday, August 1 and continued into the early hours of Sunday before a joint operation involving the Department of Prisons, the police, the Special Task Force and personnel from the Air Force and Navy restored order at around 6.00 a.m.
One inmate was killed. He was identified as a 33-year-old remand prisoner from Hendala, Wattala, held on charges of motorcycle theft and possession of 20 grams of crystal methamphetamine. Accounts of the number hurt differ: the Daily Mirror reported six injured, while NewsFirst said eight people injured in the incident are receiving treatment at Ragama Teaching Hospital.
Prisons Department Spokesman A.C. Gajanayake said an investigation has been launched into the cause. Damage to the facility has been estimated at more than Rs. 150 million.
Why these four prisons
The four facilities singled out for extra attention are among the most crowded in the system, and one of them has already seen worse.
Fighting between two groups of inmates at Negombo Prison in early July left 10 prison officials and 20 prisoners dead over two days — Sri Lanka’s deadliest prison violence since 2012. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has said the two incidents differ in character, describing Negombo as a clash between inmates and Mahara as a confrontation between inmates and the prison administration, and has said he suspects the unrest may have been coordinated from outside.
Overcrowding runs through both. The Committee for the Protection of Prisoners’ Rights says Mahara has an official capacity of 991 inmates but was holding 4,447 at the time of the unrest.
