State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has called for an urgent report on the recent shooting incident in Bambalapitiya which involved several officers of the Excise Department.
Taking to Twitter, the lawmaker said necessary directives were given to Commissioner General of Excise Kapila Kumarasinghe.
The Commissioner General of Excise has been instructed to provide an urgent report regarding the shooting incident involving a group of Excise officers in the Bambalapitiya area.
— Ranjith Siyambalapitiya (@RanjithSiyam) August 8, 2023
- State Minister of Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.#SriLanka #LKA #RanjithSiyambalapitiya
Four officers of the Excise Department were arrested on Monday (Aug. 07) for opening fire at a vehicle near a filling station on Marine Drive in Bambalapitiya. It was reported that they had suspected that the occupants of the vehicle were drug traffickers.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
CCTV footage of the incident shows a van arriving and stopping parallel to the parked SUV which proceeds to reverse and attempt to leave while several individuals are then seen getting out of the van and opening fire at the SUV which speeds off.
The excise officers who were placed under arrest over the shooting incident were granted bail today (Aug 08) on the orders of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court earlier.
Meanwhile, addressing a media briefing this morning, Kumarasinghe said the excise officers in question had been on a raid at the time of the incident.
According to him, the group of excise officers was attempting to catch a drug peddler in the act using an undercover officer to buy heroin from him.
The excise officers were compelled to open fire as the suspect tried to flee when he realized he was about to be arrested, the excise chief explained.
He said the police officers had arrested the excise officers for opening fire, while the drug peddler made his escape.
Kumarasinghe said the lack of cooperation between the excise officers and police officers led to this situation.
He also mentioned that the excise officers are authorized to use firearms and said that the Excise Department would conduct an investigation into this incident.
