The Officer-in-Charge of the Homagama Police Crimes Division has been remanded until 12 November over the death of a young man in police custody, the Homagama Magistrate’s Court has ordered.
Hiru News reported at 4.17 p.m. Colombo time on Thursday that the officer has been placed in remand custody until Thursday 12 November.
He is the second officer remanded in the case this week.
Two officers, two dates
The distinction matters, because two different Homagama officers have now been remanded on two different dates, and the figures are easily merged:
| Officer | Remanded until |
|---|---|
| Sub-Inspector (officer-in-charge, anti-corruption raids unit) | 11 November |
| Crimes Division OIC | 12 November |
The Sub-Inspector’s remand was disclosed on Thursday evening by Western Province Senior DIG Sajeewa Medawatte, and is reported in this desk’s account of that briefing. The Crimes Division OIC’s appearance is the one reported here.
The case
P.D. Ishara Harsha Kumara was arrested on 25 October by Homagama Police officers for allegedly possessing 490 milligrams of crystal methamphetamine, and died in custody.
Police initially described a sudden illness. That account has since changed: his medical report records three broken ribs and bleeding in the brain, and police now suspect an assault may have caused the death. Medawatte also disclosed that the man had been hospitalised on 24 October, the day before his arrest, after a clash between two groups, and had left hospital without medical permission.
The Crimes Division OIC was arrested on the evening of 28 October and was due to be produced in court on Thursday. This filing reports that outcome.
Four officers have been suspended over the death, including the station’s Headquarters Inspector. Medawatte said the disciplinary action rests on a failure to complete the required arrest procedure — including recording the detainee’s physical condition and notifying his relatives. The Human Rights Commission has separately summoned three Homagama officers.
Not reported
Hiru’s filing is brief. It does not name the remanded officer, state what charges or holding provisions the remand rests on, or say whether bail was sought or refused. It does not record anything said in court by the prosecution or the defence, and gives no account of what the Crimes Division OIC is alleged to have done.
Neither does it say whether the two remand dates — 11 and 12 November — represent one proceeding or two, or whether further arrests are expected. The cause of death remains formally undetermined pending further forensic work, and no filing says when those results are due.
No other verified newsroom had filed on this court appearance when this article was written: the Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing carried the Medawatte briefing and the medical report, but not the Crimes Division OIC’s remand. Ada Derana has returned a CloudFront block to this desk for more than 50 consecutive days and could not be checked.