The Kesbewa District Court has issued an order against five people — including the wife of the man who died in a Homagama police cell — restraining them from holding protests or processions along the route to his funeral in a way that causes public nuisance, damages property or blocks traffic. The funeral is on Thursday.
Hiru News reported at 7.49 a.m. Colombo time that the court made the order on Wednesday, on an application by Kahathuduwa Police. It is valid for 14 days.
The final rites for Ishara Harsha Kumara, the 29-year-old who died in custody after a narcotics arrest, are being held on Thursday at the Galkanda public cemetery, Kirivaththuduwa.
What the order covers
The restraint applies to the main roads and side roads running from Kirivaththuduwa, Moonamale Watta, 17th Lane to the Galkanda public cemetery — the route between the dead man’s neighbourhood and the burial ground.
Its terms are qualified rather than absolute. What is prohibited is protest and procession conducted so as to cause public nuisance, to damage property, or to obstruct vehicular traffic on the main road. Nothing in the filing describes a ban on the funeral itself, on attendance, or on mourning, and this desk does not read one into it.
The police sought the order under section 106(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to the filing. That citation is reproduced as Hiru gives it and has not been checked against the statute.
The applicant is not the station where the man died
The application was made by Kahathuduwa Police, the station with territorial jurisdiction over Kirivaththuduwa. The death occurred in the cell at Homagama police station, a different station.
The distinction matters, because the alternative reading — that the officers under investigation went to court to restrain the dead man’s family — is not what the filing says. No filing states that Homagama officers sought, supported or were consulted on the application.
What can be said plainly is that the police went to court to limit protest around the funeral of a man who died in police custody, and that the dead man’s widow is among those named.
The case so far
Ishara Harsha Kumara died after being taken into custody in a narcotics operation. Since then:
- The Bar Association of Sri Lanka called for an impartial investigation, citing contradictory police statements; a named officer denied the account attributed to him.
- The Human Rights Commission summoned three police officers to appear and explain themselves.
- The Homagama Magistrate ordered suspects arrested and produced, on a motion by the family and civil society organisations.
- The officer-in-charge of the crimes division was arrested.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has separately invoked the case in criticising the government’s policing bills.
This is a separate case from the death of a theft suspect at Kobeigane in Kurunegala, where villagers were arrested, which ran in the same week under similar headline wording.
Not reported
The filing does not name the five people subject to the order beyond identifying one as the dead man’s wife, and does not say whether any of them was heard before it was made or has since challenged it. It does not say what prompted the police application — whether a protest had been announced, or whether earlier gatherings had obstructed roads.
It does not give the hour of the funeral, say who applied on the Attorney-General’s behalf if anyone did, or explain why an order running 14 days was sought for a one-day event.
No other verified newsroom had filed on this order when this article was written. The Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing and the NewsFirst homepage rail were both checked at 02:50 UTC on Thursday and carried nothing on it; both outlets are carrying the wider custody-death story.