Eleven police officers and a civilian injured and admitted to hospital following a clash between a group of people and police at the Palamuna road block in Akkaraipattu last night, Police said.
Police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that Akkaraipattu police station operates a road block at Palamuna on the Kalmunai-Akkaraipattu main road and that a Police Sergeant and three personnel from the civil security force were on duty at the checkpoint last night.
He said that while the officers were on duty at around 11pm last night they had observed a motorcyclist traveling towards Akkaraipattu from Kalmunai without wearing a helmet and riding dangerously.
They had signaled the motorcyclist to stop at the checkpoint, however he had ignored the instructions and had attempted to speed past the checkpoint when he had suddenly lost control of the bike and fell, he claimed.
The motorcyclist, a 39-year-old resident of Addalaichenai, had then been admitted to the Akkaraipattu Hospital for treatment to the injuries sustained in the incident.
The residents of the Palamuna area, angered by this incident, had then arrived at the police checkpoint and destroyed the police post there and also attempted to set fire to it while they had also assaulted the Police Sergeant and civil security force members on duty, he said.
The police spokesman added that on being notified of the incident, the Akkraipattu OIC and several other officers had visited the location and that they too were assaulted by the angry mob numbering around 700-800 persons.
An ASP and several other officers who had visited the scene were also assaulted by the group, he said, adding that during the incident one of the police officers had fire a shot using his service pistol “to control the situation” as he was being assaulted and choked by the group.
SSP Thalduwa said that one civilian, a 31-year-old resident of Palamuna, has been injured in this shooting and that he too is being treated at the Akkaraipattu Hospital.
Eight police officers and three civil security force personnel have been injured in the incident and are being treated at the Akkaraipattu and Ampara hospitals, he said.
The Senior DIG in charge of Easter Province has appointed a police team led by an ASP to investigate the incident.
