Now Reading: Sri Lanka deploys troops after 3 inmates killed in prison unrest
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Sri Lanka deploys troops after 3 inmates killed in prison unrest
Sri Lanka deploys troops after 3 inmates killed in prison unrest
Sri Lanka deployed troops to three prisons on Friday after three inmates were killed and 23 wounded in escape attempts, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament. One inmate died and 10…
The Story in Brief
Sri Lanka deployed troops to three prisons on Friday after three inmates were killed and 23 wounded in escape attempts, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament. One inmate died and 10 were wounded when guards stopped about 40 convicts trying to flee Colombo's Welikada Prison on Thursday night. Two more inmates were killed and 13 wounded at a prison in Kuruwita, 80 km southeast of Colombo. Another 30 inmates climbed onto a roof at Pallansena prison north of Colombo.
The unrest follows earlier riots at two other prisons that killed 10 guards and 23 inmates. Officials blame acute overcrowding, Sri Lanka's prisons hold four times their capacity. Over three-quarters of inmates are remand prisoners awaiting trial, mostly for drug offences. Wijepala told parliament he suspects a pattern and a possible conspiracy.
The Indian Opinion
The minister suspects a conspiracy, but the inmates are four times the intended capacity. It is simpler: overcrowding explodes into violence. New Indian Express reports that over three-quarters are remand prisoners, most held for drug offences. That is a justice system failure, not a plot. The test will come when Sri Lanka converts disused buildings into prisons as announced last month, will it reduce the violence or just delay it?
Sources (2): newindianexpress.com, deccanherald.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
