Police say that a team of officers visited the residence of Senior Attorney-at-Law Gunaratne Wanninayake in Boralesgamuwa to arrest him in connection with the recent assault incident reported at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court premises. However, he was not at home at the time.

According to police, the senior lawyer was to be arrested on charges of obstructing the duties of a police constable and issuing threats.

The incident in question occurred last Friday (10) when a police officer allegedly assaulted a lawyer during an argument over moving a vehicle belonging to the lawyer at the Mount Lavinia Court premises.

A video circulating on social media also showed the lawyer and another senior attorney verbally abusing the police constable during the altercation.

Meanwhile, the Police Media Division has issued a statement regarding the incident, denying widespread claims that the lawyer had personally contacted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and requested the immediate arrest of the officer involved.

The statement clarified that no such telephone conversation took place between the lawyer and the IGP, as suggested in the video, and that these claims were entirely false.

It further noted that upon being informed of the incident, the IGP instructed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in charge of the Mount Lavinia Division and the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Mount Lavinia Police Station to conduct a proper investigation. However, no directive was ever issued to arrest the officer involved.

Nonetheless, police said that by the time the IGP contacted the relevant officers, the police constable had already been arrested and produced before the court.

The case related to the incident is scheduled to be taken up again today (13).