Verdict of 2012 Welikada Prison riot case to be delivered in January

The verdict of the case filed against former Inspector of Police (IP) Neomal Rangajeewa of Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) and former Prisons Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa, who were arrested over the Welikada Prison clashes in 2012, will be delivered on January 06, 2022.

The lawsuit was heard for nearly three years before Judges Gihan Kulathunga, Pradeep Hettiarachchi and Manjula Thilakaratne of Permanent High Court at Bar.

The judge bench pronounced its decision after the defence and the plaintiffs in the case concluded presenting their submissions.

Due to the complexity of the evidence presented at the trial, more time is needed to study the matter extensively and reach a verdict, the judge bench noted.

Rangajeewa was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on March 28, 2018, over the alleged killing of inmates at Welikada prison during the clashes in 2012.

Lamahewa, who was the then Prisons Superintendent in charge of the Magazine Prison, was arrested by CID at his official residence on Baseline Road, Colombo 09 the following day.

Twenty-seven inmates were killed while more than 20 others were injured in the fatal shooting during the Welikada Prison riot on November 09, 2012, when prisoners took control of the populated prison objecting to an unannounced search by the Special Task Force to nab hidden arms, drugs and mobile phones at the prison.

Former Attorney General Dappula de Livera had filed the case against Rangajeewa and Lamahewa under 33 charges. The indictments against the duo read that the inmates were imprisoned for allegedly engaging in drug dealing. Ex-AG had requested Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya to appoint a Trial-at-Bar to hear the case against Rangajeewa and Lamahewa.