හෝමාගම පොලිස් භාරයේ සිටියදී සැකකරුවෙක් මරුට - ඥාතීන්ගෙන් පොලිසියට චෝදනා

Daily Mirror and Newswire report that the Officer-in-Charge of the Homagama Police Crimes Division was arrested in connection with a suspect’s death in police custody. Daily Mirror identifies the arresting unit as the Western Province South Divisional Crimes Division, while Newswire calls it the Western Province South Crime Investigation Division. Newswire says the officer had been interdicted following the death.

Newswire identifies the deceased as Ishara Harshana, a young man who died in Homagama Police custody. WhatNews (සිංහල) reports that a 29-year-old man died while held in a cell at Homagama Police Headquarters, but gives his name in a different form. The accounts describe the death as occurring in police custody.

Newswire reports that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka began an inquiry on its own initiative after media coverage and two formal complaints from the deceased’s relatives. The Commission visited Homagama Police Station to gather details and visited relatives’ homes to record statements. Newswire says preliminary findings indicated that the officers involved appeared not to have followed Commission guidance on the treatment of suspects.

Newswire reports that the Commission summoned the officers concerned to appear at 1:30 p.m. on October 29, 2026, and decided to obtain the official post-mortem report from the medical officer who conducted the examination. Newsfirst reports that the Commission summoned the Homagama Police OIC and the Crimes Division OIC; Hiru News (සිංහල) reports that three people were called.

Newswire reports that Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa called for an independent and transparent inquiry and said police are responsible for the safety and well-being of people in their custody. Newswire says the Commission had earlier developed suspect-treatment guidelines after consulting the Inspector General of Police, distributed them to police stations through a circular, and plans to issue its final determination after completing the inquiry. Newswire also reports Commission figures of 49 deaths in police custody from January 2020 to March 31, 2025, and 30 deaths in confrontations with police following arrest; it says the Commission expressed concern about recurring fatalities.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.