The Homagama Magistrate has ordered that suspects in the death of a 29-year-old man in police custody be arrested and produced before court, and told investigators to expedite the inquiry. The order was made on a motion brought jointly by the dead man’s relatives and several civil society organisations.

Hiru News reported the order at 5.59 p.m. Colombo time on Wednesday. Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya directed the Colombo South Crimes Division to speed up its investigation into the death, to arrest those suspected in the case and to bring them before the court.

The court also gave the division permission to question suspects already held in prison, if that is required for the investigation.

This is an order to arrest, not a summons

The significance is in the instrument. Until Wednesday afternoon the case was being pursued through investigation and inquiry: a police probe, a magistrate’s inquest, a Bar Association demand for an impartial investigation, and — as of Wednesday morning — a Human Rights Commission summons requiring officers to appear and explain themselves on Thursday.

An order to arrest and produce suspects is a different step. It directs the investigating division to move from taking statements to making arrests, and it was issued because the family and civil organisations went to court and asked for exactly that.

Hiru’s account says the order came as the court took up a case filed by motion by the relatives together with several civil organisations, seeking an order for the arrest of the suspects. The court granted it.

Who the “suspects” are is not spelled out

The filing does not name the suspects, state their number, or say whether they are police officers. The context of the motion — brought by the dead man’s family over a death in a police cell — points to officers of the Homagama station, and three officers of that station have already been suspended. But no filing states that the arrest order names them, and this desk does not assume it.

The permission to question suspects already in prison appears to describe a separate group. The dead man was arrested in a narcotics operation, and others detained in connection with that case would be in remand and in a position to describe what happened in the cell.

A naming difference worth recording

Hiru identifies the investigating unit as the Colombo South Crimes Division. The Daily Mirror, NewsFirst and Hiru’s own earlier filing on Wednesday all named the unit handling this investigation as the Western Province South Crimes Division, as recorded in this desk’s report on the Human Rights Commission summons.

These may be two renderings of the same division. No filing reconciles them, and the difference is noted rather than resolved.

The case so far

The dead man, named in earlier reporting as Francis Durage Ishara Harsha Kumara of Kirivattuduwa, a father of two, was arrested by Homagama police in a drug raid in the early hours of Sunday 25 October and died after being taken to hospital.

Relatives who went to the station on 25 October say they saw injuries indicating a severe assault. The police account has been that he fell suddenly ill in custody and died while receiving treatment. The post-mortem returned an open verdict, with parts of the body sent to the Government Analyst — so the medical evidence supports neither account.

Three Homagama officers have been suspended: two Sub-Inspectors serving as officers-in-charge of the Crime Division and the Anti-Vice Raids Unit, and a Police Constable who was on duty at the time. The Public Security Minister has instructed the Inspector General of Police to conduct a prompt and independent investigation, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has written to the IGP demanding that “contradictory statements” be transparently investigated.

Separately on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa called the death a step towards a police state and linked it to two bills now before Parliament.

Not reported

The filing does not say how many suspects the order covers, who they are, whether they are serving police officers, or whether any arrest has yet been made. It does not say which civil society organisations joined the family’s motion, when the suspects must be produced, or what the court set as the next date.

It does not say how the magistrate’s order interacts with the Human Rights Commission proceedings due on Thursday, nor whether the officers summoned by the commission are among those the court has ordered arrested. It gives no timeframe for the Government Analyst’s results, which remain the outstanding piece of medical evidence.

Single source. This filing is 50 minutes old at the time of writing. The Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing had not carried it, NewsFirst’s rail had not carried it, and Ada Derana has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for some 48 consecutive days. This desk expects corroboration within hours and will add it.

Update, 28 October evening — an arrest has been made

The question this article recorded as open — whether any arrest had yet been made under the magistrate’s order — has been answered. The officer-in-charge of the Homagama police Crime Division was arrested on Wednesday evening, about an hour after the order was reported.

This desk has reported the arrest separately: Homagama Crime Division OIC arrested over death of man in police custody.

The arrested officer holds the Crime Division post, not the post of officer-in-charge of Homagama police station — a distinction that matters this week, because the station OIC is among three officers summoned by the Human Rights Commission to appear on Thursday.

The remaining gaps recorded above are still open: no filing says how many suspects the magistrate’s order covers, names the arrested officer, or gives a date for the Government Analyst’s results.