Tinted glasses for prison vehicles for criminals’ safety

Against the backdrop of a prisoner being shot while being transported in a Black Maria to Court, Prisons Commissioner General H.M.N.C. Dhanasinghe said today his office was considering measures such as tinted glasses on the vehicles to ensure safety and security.

He said he would discuss this matter with the police on how best to adopt these moves because only specially designated vehicles were currently allowed the use of tinted glasses.

Mr. Dhanasinghe said they were also considering the possibility of reducing the number of times such criminals were being transported to and fro to prevent risking their lives during transit.

“We have to transport criminals involved in serious crimes to Courts to fix dates for hearing of the cases. We hope to see the possibility of producing them in courts only for Court hearing,” he said.

Mr. Dhanasinghe said they were also considering about re-establishing the special court inside prisons so that notorious criminals need not be taken outside the security of the prison walls.

“Earlier there was a special court inside prisons to hear cases of criminals involved in serious crimes. We need to discuss this matter with the Judicial Services Commission,” he said when asked about the precautions that needs to be taken in view of the recent shooting. (Ajith Siriwardana)