{"id":52621,"date":"2016-03-04T12:15:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T19:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=52621"},"modified":"2016-03-04T12:15:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T19:15:43","slug":"jt-opp-asks-police-human-rights-commission-to-step-in-to-see-justice-is-done-alleged-police-cover-up-of-hit-and-run-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/03\/04\/jt-opp-asks-police-human-rights-commission-to-step-in-to-see-justice-is-done-alleged-police-cover-up-of-hit-and-run-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Jt. Opp asks police, human rights commission to step in to see justice is done-Alleged police cover-up of hit-and-run accident:"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando\u00a0Courtesy The Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Joint Opposition yesterday said that it wanted the National Police Commission (NPC) to inquire into serious accusations directed against the police in respect of the cover-up of a recent accident in which Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka was allegedly involved in.<\/p>\n

A senior Joint Opposition spokesperson told The Island that the NPC could initiate an inquiry even without having received a complaint as in the case of the brutal police attack on HNDA (Higher National Diploma in Accountancy) students last year.<\/p>\n

\"article_image\"<\/p>\n

Twenty-four year old motorcyclist Sadim Sampath, an old boy of D.S. Senanayake, College, injured in Sunday\u2019s accident is being treated at the National Hospital in a critical condition.<\/p>\n

The National Police Commission (NPC) comprises Senior Prof. of Sociology of the University of Colombo Prof. Siri Hettige, Senior Administrative Officer, Thilak Kollure, former IGP Frank Silva, P.H. Manatunga, Savithri Wijesekara, Y. L.M. Zawahir and Anton Jeyanathan, also formerly of the police.<\/p>\n

Former External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris told The Island that it would be the NPC\u2019s responsibility to ensure an impartial investigation into allegations. “We\u2019ll be following police investigation and action taken by the NPC,\u2019 Prof. Peiris said.<\/p>\n

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, yesterday told The Island that the Joint Opposition would raise the issue in Parliament unless the police and the NPC acted in a fair and just manner. The NPC as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka could seek an explanation from police headquarters in this regard, MP Weerawansa said.<\/p>\n

The Colombo District MP pointed out that the NPC and HRCSL had summoned police in respect of several cases including the alleged ill-treatment of two persons falsely arrested in connection with the killing of five-year-old girl in the Kotadeniyawa police area, killing of a person allegedly by the police in the Embilipitiya police area as well as the attack on HNDA students.<\/p>\n

MP Weerawansa said the NPC and the HRCSL came under the scrutiny of the 10-member Constitutional Council headed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.<\/p>\n

Responding to a query, MP Weerawansa said the conduct of those who had been at the Borella police station at the time a person surrendered to police claiming responsibility for the accident should be investigated. The MP said that the conduct of officers at the Welikada police, too, was questionable. Having recorded statements from two youth who had identified the driver of the hit-and-run jeep as Minister Ranawaka, the Welikada police didn\u2019t allow them to read statements that they signed, MP Weerawansa said.<\/p>\n

Secretary to the NPC Ariyadasa Cooray told The Island that the issue had not been brought to their notice. The NPC regularly meets on Thursdays to discuss developments as well as progress in ongoing inquiries and other related matters. Cooray said the matter was likely to be taken up next Tuesday.<\/p>\n

HRCSL spokesperson attorney-at-law Saliya Peiris told The Island that the Commission couldn\u2019t act only on the basis of media reports.<\/p>\n

HRCSL comprises Dr. Deepika Udagama (Chairperson), Hamid Ghazali Hussain, Saliya Pieris, Ambika Satkunanathan and Dr. Upananda Vidanapthirana<\/p>\n

The spokesman said the HRCSL hadn\u2019t received a complaint as yet and in case it received a credible complaint action could be taken. Peiris said that it would be impossible for the HRCSL to investigate all media reports pertaining to the police.<\/p>\n

UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila told The Island that Independent Commissions should safeguard the rights of the people without giving excuses. The former JHU heavyweight and attorney-at-law said that the police in spite the accident leaving the victim in a critical condition produced in court the purported driver who was released him on personal bail of Rs 500,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shamindra Ferdinando\u00a0Courtesy The Island The Joint Opposition yesterday said that it wanted the National Police Commission (NPC) to inquire into serious accusations directed against the police in respect of the cover-up of a recent accident in which Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka was allegedly involved in. A senior Joint Opposition spokesperson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}