OIC, 5 cops remanded over Angulana deaths

The Officer in Charge of the Angulana Police post and five other policemen, who were produced before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate in connection with the death of two youth on Wednesday night, were remanded till August 26.

The bodies of two youth, Dinesh Tharanga Fernando (26) and Dhanushka Udayakantha, were found at dawn on Thursday near the Ratmalana Cooperative Society and the Lunawa Bridge, respectively.

They had been taken to the Angulana Police Station, on allegations that they tried to be "funny with a woman" and were mercilessly assaulted by the OIC and a few other policemen. They were later locked up and taken away around 2.00 a.m., two other suspects, who were locked up in the same cell at the Angulana Police Station on Wednesday night, said in statements to the Mt. Lavinia Police.

They gave their statements during the inquiry into the killing of the two youth who were allegedly in Angulana police custody. It is alleged the two youths were taken out of the Police Station and shot dead.

In addition to the statements made by the two inmates in the cell, the parents of the victims too have made statements to the investigators.

According to investigations carried out so far, the arrest of the two deceased youth had been illegal. It has not been mentioned in records maintained by the Angulana Police that the victims had been arrested.

IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne, quoting investigators, said that the Angulana OIC and some other policemen were in an intoxicated state at the time of the incident.

Investigations had also revealed that both youth had been killed with a T-56 rifle. They had been shot at close range.

Two special Police teams are conducting investigations on the instructions of Western Province (East) DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara and Mount Lavinia SSP Hemantha Adikari.

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