Negombo Chief Magistrate Shilani Perera has ordered notices to be issued to 20 prison officers — including the officer who was Chief Jailer of Negombo Prison at the time of the July clash — requiring them to appear on September 8 for an identification parade over the deaths of 32 people.
The order was made when the case was called at the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Friday. It is the first time officers, rather than inmates, have been brought into the identification process.
Four suspects identified on Friday
Suspects numbered 1 to 6 had been listed for an identification parade during the day. Two were not produced — one for health reasons and one because of another court matter — and the prison submitted letters to the court explaining both absences. The Criminal Investigation Department produced the remaining four along with four witnesses.
Hiru News reported that the suspects and witnesses were brought in under heavy police and Special Task Force security and kept fully covered as the court had directed. The Magistrate went to the parade room in person to conduct the proceedings, and all four witnesses identified the suspects.
Suspect list revised down to 67
CID Sub-Inspector Dulanga told the court that of the 70 suspects named previously, suspects 35 and 36 have since died, and suspect 43 had been recorded a second time as suspect 69 through a typographical error. That leaves 67 suspects currently named — up from the 62 named on August 7, when the parade was first put back. Ada Derana reported the earlier figure of 70 without the revision.
The CID said statements have been taken from more than 2,100 people so far, with more still to be recorded.
Rights group alleges shootings amount to murder
Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, President of the Prisoners’ Rights Association, appearing for the aggrieved party, told the court that a large number of inmates died from gunshots yet no one has been named over who fired the shots or how. He said prison regulations allow shooting only to prevent fatal injury where a situation cannot otherwise be controlled, and that this did not appear to be such a case, as shooting was seen taking place through a prison window frame in a manner suggesting an intent to kill.
Describing it as murder under Section 294, he asked the court to order the arrest of those who shot inmates and to monitor whether the CID was being influenced.
Sub-Inspector Dulanga replied that inmates had broken into the armoury and taken 32 weapons during the clash, and that only after the Government Analyst’s reports are received can it be established whether the shots came from officers’ firearms or from weapons held by inmates. Autopsy findings presented in July showed that 17 of 28 deaths examined were caused by gunshots and 11 by blunt-force assault.
Indian national to be buried at state expense
The court was told an Indian national who died in the clash has no relatives available to identify his body. The Indian High Commission confirmed this by email on August 25. The Magistrate ordered the Negombo Judicial Medical Officer to conduct the post-mortem and directed that the body be buried at the Negombo Public Cemetery at state expense, under the supervision of the Mayor of the Negombo Municipal Council, who was told to report back on the burial location.
The 67 suspects were remanded until September 8 and are to be produced virtually, by Zoom, in the Magistrate’s chambers. Noting how long the process is taking, the Magistrate told investigators to arrange to conclude the identification parades more quickly.
The clash between two groups of inmates on July 5 and 6 killed 10 prison officers and 22 inmates and injured more than 100 others. The officer who was Chief Jailer at the time was identified in earlier proceedings as Wickrama Jayantha Kumara, whose evidence the court sealed on national security grounds in July. Neither outlet named him in Friday’s reports; a notice to attend an identification parade is an investigative step and not a charge.
