Police have arrested a 34-year-old resident of Madiwela, Kotte over the assault of a fuel-station employee at a Pannipitiya filling station on Tuesday afternoon, after a video of the attack circulated widely on social media, Newswire reported.
Officers attached to the Mirihana Police Station made the arrest on Thursday. The June 3 incident at the station, within the Mirihana Police Division, began after the suspect attempted to obtain fuel without presenting a QR code; when the employee informed him that fuel could not be issued without it, an argument escalated into an assault.
The assaulted employee subsequently requested Police to settle the matter amicably and informed officers he did not wish to pursue the complaint. Police said the suspect was severely warned and the matter was settled.
The arrest comes amid renewed enforcement of the National Fuel Pass scheme, with Energy Minister Anura Karunathilake confirming on June 1 that the QR-coded weekly quota system will be strictly implemented in future after monthly fuel imports hit USD 524 million in May. The system, introduced during the 2022 currency crisis, has remained the gating mechanism for retail fuel supply throughout 2026 as Sri Lanka’s Hormuz-driven import bill and rupee depreciation have squeezed CPC margins.
