19 November 2020 12:00 am
By Ajith Siriwardana
One inmate had died while two inmates and two Prison Officers were injured when Prisons’ Officers used minimum force to thwart an attempt made by five inmates, who were under quarantine at the Bogambara Old Prison, to escape Tuesday midnight, Prisons Commissioner Thushara Upuldeniya said yesterday.
Addressing media, he said the Prisons’ Officers had opened fire to thwart the attempt made by the inmates who had broken the iron bars of the prison cell and then attempted to escape by climbing on top of a building and then over the wall of the prison. He said the injured inmates and Prisons’ officers had been admitted to the Kandy General Hospital.
One inmate had escaped and he was found by the Prison officials in Kandy by yesterday afternoon.
“Among those, four are under remand custody over allegations of drug smuggling. These inmates have been engaged in the recent protest carried out at the Bogambara Prison,” he said.
Mr. Upuldeniya said an investigation was carried out by a Prison Superintendent in addition to the Police investigations into the incident.
He said the inmates who were subjected to PCR tests are sheltered in Bogambara Old Prison for 14-days.
Mr. Upuldeniya said steps were being taken to pardon those remanded for minor offences on a request made by the Justice Minister from the President and also to grant bail to minor offenders following an order of the Attorney General.