Five prison officers at the Angunukolapelessa prison have been suspended for their alleged involvement in a brutal assault of inmates last week.
The Police said that the prison officials will be questioned regarding their involvement in the assault.
Prisons spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said that two investigations have been launched into the incident and that the accused prison officers have been suspended pending a disciplinary inquiry.
Accordingly, an investigation is being carried out by a Senior Superintendent of Prisons at the Prison Headquarters while another inquiry is being conducted by the Chief Jailor of the Angunakolapelessa Prison, the Department of Prisons said.
Police spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa told reporters in Colombo that the prison officials will be questioned into the matter, adding that such behavior is not acceptable under any circumstance.
Meanwhile, Secretary of the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners Sudesh Nandimal Silva said that Amila Kumarasinghe and Dulantha Rajapaksa, both residents of Angunukolapelessa, had come under a brutal assault inside the prison on October 09.
Provincial reporters said that Dulantha Rajapaksa is being treated at the ICU of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital due to internal bleeding and severe head trauma.
According to Nandimal Silva, Amila Kumarasinghe is receiving treatment at the Matara Prison Hospital.
Angunakolapelessa Magistrate Darshima Premaratne on October 11 had ordered the immediate release of two inmates who had been assaulted by officers at the Angunakolapelessa Prison. She had also ordered a team of senior police officers to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident.
