The chairman of the Kirinda Puhulwella Pradeshiya Sabha and four other council officials have been released on personal bail after being arrested by Thihagoda Police and produced before the Matara Magistrate’s Court.
The council is controlled by the National People’s Power, Hiru News reported.
The complaint
The arrests follow a complaint by a woman and her son, who told Thihagoda Police they were called in to the Pradeshiya Sabha to discuss a dispute over the construction of a boundary wall, then locked in a room and subjected to assault.
According to Hiru, the chairman had summoned the pair some days earlier, saying a notification had been received from the Human Rights Commission about a wall on Vadigawatta Road in Kirinda town that had not been built lawfully.
The two say the origin of the dispute was a technical officer of that same Pradeshiya Sabha — who lives on the land next to theirs — building a wall at his own discretion.
Why it matters
The allegation is that a local authority used a summons over a building dispute as the occasion for confining and assaulting two members of the public, and that the official whose own construction is said to have started the dispute works for the same council. The chairman and four officials were produced in court and released on personal bail; no charges have been reported.
Not reported
Hiru does not name the chairman, the four officials, the technical officer or the complainants, does not say what offences the five were arrested on suspicion of, and does not give the date of the next court appearance. The council’s or the chairman’s response to the allegation is not recorded, and the Human Rights Commission notification referred to has not been independently confirmed.
No other verified newsroom had filed on this at the time of writing.