How prison officers fell into a soup ....
by trying to control the 37 gang of SF Lokka in courts
An incident is reported recently of an occasion where prison officials found it difficult to control
and cope up with the large group of 37 who were remanded in connection with the murder of Karate champion and night-club owner Wasantha Soysa.This case was taken up as the very first case for hearing in Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate's Court last 23rd morning at 9.30 and on that occasion neither the Anuradhapura Chief Inspector nor any other inspector was present in courts and Magistrate Mr. Kalansooriya seriously condemned this situation, instructing that the Anuradhapura Chief Inspector or some other police inspector appear in courts ordering that the case be called again at 12.45 in the afternoon. The main suspect SF Lokka including 37 suspects by that time were grouped together under the supervision of some prison officers. As the case hearing was postponed until 12.45 in the afternoon, the prison officers who escorted the the suspects to court had to undergo inconvenience and what they said was that there was no sufficient space to keep these 37 suspects relevant to this case together with other suspects produced for other cases in the company of the others at the courts chambers or in open courts as such. This particular situation had arisen because a large crowd of individuals being called for any case is indeed rare.
Later however the 37 suspects of this case were once again escorted back to Anuradhapura Prisons and the prison officers had taken steps to bring them to courts again according to a call made later to that effect. At the hearing, Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate Mr. Umesh Shanaka Kalansooriya ordered that 35 of the suspects be placed in remand custody until 7th December.
It is a special feature to note that lawyers had declined to appear on behalf of these suspects. All these suspects who were remanded were sent to the prisons under strict security from courts. The police also took precautions not to permit anybody who had any association with other legal cases to gain entrance to the said courts premises at the moment when this particular case was called. The male and female suspect both who were accused for having provided lodging facilities to Iron Ranasingha, the prime suspect in this crime and a former soldier of the Special Task Force however were released on bail conditions.