News
IGP reads ‘Riot Act’ to Moneragala OICs for inaction against polls violence
Officers-in-Charge (OIC) of police stations in the Moneragala district will be held responsible in the event of election violence, Inspector General of Police N.K. Illangakoon warned yesterday. The warning came at a conference of senior police officers and OIC’s of the Moneragala district where the most number of election violence and violations have been reported.
“If there are OIC’s who cannot perform their duties, they can give a letter and leave the stations. The OIC positions were not given to you by force,” the IGP warned.
He said there has been election law violations and violence reported in the district, and it is the responsibility of the police to ensure that no violations are reported. “Do not act in manner that brings discredit to the police force,” he added. He said that all voters have equal rights, and therefore, the police should ensure that a free and fair election be held.
IGP Illangakoon was due to address a similar conference in the Badulla district later in the day.
By last evening, the Election Secretariat said they had received 212 complaints, of which, 135 were from the Moneragala district and 65 from the Badulla district, while 15 were complaints common to both districts. Police plan to deploy 11,000 additional policemen for election duty next week, in the two districts where 942,730 voters will be eligible to vote in 318 polling booths, to elect a total of 32 members to the Uva Provincial Council (UPC).
Some 12,500 officers will be on election duty. Election monitors said that, despite the presence of the Special Task Force (STF) and police, there were fresh incidents of violence. In the latest incidents, four JVP offices were attacked in the Badulla district.Campaigning for the UPC polls ends Wednesday (17) midnight, before the poll is conducted next Saturday (20).