An emergency security committee meeting has been held in the Southern Province to review and strengthen security at prisons across the province, after intelligence reports pointed to possible attempts to incite unrest.
The meeting was convened under the patronage of Southern Province Governor Prof. Susiripala Manawadu, Ada Derana reported.
Officials at the meeting reviewed intelligence indicating possible attempts to provoke disturbances at prisons in the province similar to the incidents recently reported at Negombo and Mahara. Discussions centred on the measures needed to prevent such incidents and to protect prison staff, inmates and the facilities themselves.
The committee decided to assess security arrangements at five prisons — Boossa, Galle, Matara, Agunukolapelessa and Weerawila — and to implement any additional measures judged necessary.
It also decided to establish a rapid response mechanism allowing authorities to react immediately to any emergency.
Two incidents behind the alert
The two prisons named as precedents produced the worst prison violence Sri Lanka has seen in years.
Fighting between two groups of inmates at Negombo Prison in early July left 20 prisoners and 10 prison officials dead over two days, the deadliest prison violence since 2012.
Unrest at Mahara Prison on the afternoon of Saturday, August 1 continued into the following morning before a joint operation involving the Department of Prisons, police, the Special Task Force and Air Force and Navy personnel restored order. One inmate was killed and damage was estimated at more than Rs. 150 million.
Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has described the two incidents as different in character — Negombo a clash between inmates, Mahara a confrontation between inmates and the prison administration — and has said he suspects the Mahara unrest may have been coordinated from outside.
Part of a nationwide tightening
The Southern Province review follows a broader security clampdown. Police said last week that special measures and close monitoring were in force at all prisons nationwide, with particular attention on Welikada, Magazine, Kalutara and Negombo.
Two of the five facilities now under review sit among Sri Lanka’s higher-security estate: Boossa, in the Galle district, and Agunukolapelessa, in Hambantota. Security at Galle Prison was already in question after an inmate escaped over its wall in the early hours of Sunday, August 2 — a man who had previously escaped custody at Agunukolapelessa.
The reviews are being carried out while the post of Commissioner General of Prisons remains vacant.
