The Department of Prisons has launched an investigation after an inmate escaped from Welikada Prison custody on a prison jailor’s motorcycle, Hiru News reported on Thursday.
The inmate was one of three sent to clean what the department described as the Welikada Prison holiday resort. He rode off on the motorcycle when the jailor supervising them left for the office to attend to other work, according to the department.
The escapee is a resident of Nattandiya who was serving a one-month detention order at Welikada. The department did not name him, did not say what offence he was held over, and did not say whether the motorcycle has been recovered or whether any officer faces action over the lapse.
A recurring problem
The escape is the second reported from prison custody this month. An inmate held over four housebreaking and theft cases got out over the security wall at Galle Prison on August 2, prompting the deployment of several police teams.
It also lands three weeks after the National Audit Office reported that 709 prisoners who fled custody have never been re-arrested. That audit, published in the Department of Prisons’ 2025 annual report, found 1,181 inmates and suspects escaped from prisons or from prison custody over six years. The auditors warned that leaving escaped prisoners at large posed a threat to public security.
Sri Lanka’s prison system has been under sustained strain through August, with disturbances at several facilities, a vacant Commissioner General’s post and persistent overcrowding. The Justice Minister said on Thursday that congestion should ease within six weeks.
No other verified newsroom had reported the escape at the time of writing.
