Public Security Minister K.M. Ananda Wijepala told Parliament on Thursday that arrests have been made in three separate assault incidents involving estate workers in the past two weeks.
Eleven security officers were taken into custody over an April 21 incident at the Neelagamam Division in Pelmadulla, where they allegedly assaulted villagers during a dispute over an illegal construction. The officers were produced in court.
At Mokawatte Estate on Wednesday night, an estate manager allegedly slapped his meals caretaker. The manager was arrested at 9:00 a.m. Thursday and was scheduled to be produced in court the same day.
Early Thursday at 12:30 a.m. at Delta Estate, Udupussellawa, Maskeliya, Nuwara Eliya, the deputy estate manager was arrested for allegedly assaulting a worker. He was also to be produced in court on Thursday.
“There is no attempt to brush away any such incidents. The law will be implemented equally to all,” Wijepala told the House.
The Minister was responding to questions raised by Opposition MPs Mano Ganesan and Jeevan Thondaman, who highlighted what they described as continuous assaults on upcountry Tamils across plantation areas. Ganesan urged the government to convene a structured discussion to resolve the long-standing issue.
The plantation worker community remains a politically sensitive constituency: the Indian Vice President’s January 2026 visit included a tour of Nuwara Eliya plantations and the handover of 145 houses under the third-phase Indian housing assistance scheme.
Source: Newswire.
