Negombo Chief Magistrate Shilani Perera ordered notices to be issued on 20 prison officers, including the Negombo Prison’s Chief Jailer, directing them to appear before court on September 8 for an identification parade over the deaths of 32 people in the prison clash.
The order was issued when the case relating to the unrest at the Negombo Prison was taken up again before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Friday (28).
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had previously named 70 suspects in connection with the incident. Suspects numbered one to six were scheduled to be presented at an identification parade on Friday, but two were not produced due to health reasons and involvement in another court case.
The remaining four suspects were produced before court along with four witnesses, who subsequently identified them at the parade.
The CID told court that statements had so far been recorded from more than 2,100 people and that further statements remained to be obtained.
Submitting a further report, CID officer Dulanga informed court that suspects numbered 35 and 36 had died, while suspect number 43 had also been mistakenly listed as suspect number 69 due to a printing error.
Accordingly, 67 suspects have now been named in the case. Documents relating to productions handed over by the Judicial Medical Officer to the Government Analyst’s Department were also submitted to court.
CID officers further informed court that the Indian High Commission had notified the department that no relatives would arrive to identify the body of an Indian national killed in the prison incident.
They requested an order directing the Negombo Judicial Medical Officer to conduct the post-mortem examination. They also sought permission to bury the remains at the Negombo General Cemetery at State expense under the supervision of the Mayor of the Negombo Municipal Council.
