A police sergeant attached to the Kurunegala Headquarters Police has died after drowning while bathing at Ketawala Amuna, within the Gampaha police division, Hiru News reported.
The 51-year-old was taken to Gampaha Hospital in critical condition and died there on Tuesday night while receiving treatment, according to Gampaha police.
He was a resident of Mudungoda, Gampaha.
Gampaha Police Station is carrying out further investigations.
Context
Drowning is a persistent cause of accidental death in Sri Lanka, and the toll is concentrated in inland water — rivers, reservoirs, irrigation weirs and tanks rather than the coast. Police recorded 122 drowning deaths in the first months of 2026, with clusters around public holidays when bathing spots draw crowds.
An amuna is a weir or anicut across a river, built to divert water into irrigation channels. The structures create deep, fast-moving pools immediately upstream and downstream, which is what makes them hazardous to bathers despite their calm appearance at the surface.
Not reported
Hiru does not name the sergeant, give the time of the incident, say whether he was alone or bathing with others, or state how long he had been in the water before being recovered. It does not report whether the death has been referred for a magistrate’s inquest.
This article is single-sourced. No other verified newsroom had filed on the death at the time of writing.
