COLOMBO (TIP): Deshabandu Tennakoon, theoretically still the island nation’s police chief, is being treated as a fugitive and his team members are on a trail to arrest him, police spokesman Buddhika Manathunga said here on March 6.
A warrant has been issued for arresting Tennakoon, under suspension since July 2024 and is on the run, and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been tasked with locating him. The Magistrate’s court in the southern town of Matara had last week ordered Tennakoon be arrested over a shooting incident in the southern resort town of Weligama, about 150 kilometres southeast of Colombo, on December 30, 2023. Tennakoon, as the inspector general, had sent police officers from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) to the resort hotel in Weligama for a raid in connection with illegal drugs. However, the Weligama police, unaware of the undercover operation, opened fire at the CCD vehicle killing an officer.
Manathunga told reporters that the court ruled that the undercover operation was illegal and eight police officers, including Tennakoon, must be arrested.
Tennakoon, who was suspended by the highest court, is absconding and raids have been carried out since last week at locations where Tennakoon was likely to be. The court has issued a travel ban on him. “We seek public support to arrest him. We treat him as a suspect,” Manathunga said. Tennakoon was appointed as the police chief in November 2023 despite him being found guilty of torturing a person in custody by the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights petition. Tennakoon was suspended in July 2024 from functioning by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a hearing on the legality of his appointment. (PTI)