The rule of law must prevail even when dealing with criminals, tweeted the Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera.
He made this statement regarding a crime gang member being shot dead by the police.
One police officer was killed, two other police officers and two civilians were injured and hospitalised following the shootout outside a jewellery shop in the Matara town, between several armed men wearing helmets who were robbing the store and policemen, at around 10.45am on the 22nd June.
Four suspects were arrested over the incident. However one of them, the main suspect, Chamara Indrajith Jayasundara, was shot and killed by police officers this morning when he allegedly attempted to hurl a grenade at them during the search for a hidden bag.
Regarding the incident he left a message in his twitter account stating:
“The rule of law must prevail even when dealing with criminals. The brutal murder of a Police Constable on duty in Matara cannot be justified by an equally brutal murder of the suspect whilst in police custody. This is Yahapalanaya, not Yamapalanaya!!!”
