Sri Lanka boosts prison security after riot kills one

By Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, Aug 2 – Sri Lanka tightened security across its prisons on Sunday after a riot left one person dead and six injured, an official said, as the nation struggles to manage its overcrowded jails.  

Prisoners damaged several buildings including the hospital, training center, and kitchen, within the Mahara prison on Saturday, which is about 15 km (9.32 miles) from commercial capital Colombo. 

The riot began during family visiting hours with prisoners climbing atop roofs and setting fire to a building within the prison complex, and burning documents kept inside administration offices, police sources told Reuters. 

The prison housed about 4,100 inmates, about four times its capacity, mirroring a systemic crisis across the country’s prison network, which holds over 41,000 convicted inmates in 22 facilities with a combined capacity of about 11,000. 

The jails also house thousands of remand prisoners who have not been convicted of a crime. 

Ten prison officials and 20 prisoners died in two days of fighting between two groups of inmates at a prison in the coastal town of Negombo, about 35 km (20 miles) north of Colombo, in early July. 

The clash was Sri Lanka’s worst since 2012, with police special forces, military and navy personnel called in to control the riot, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Sajeewa Medawatta told reporters on Sunday.

“Attention has been paid to increasing security at all major prisons, particularly the ones close to Colombo, including the Negombo prison,” Medawatta said. 

“Prison officials have moved prisoners to their holding cells and are giving them food and water. Due to the intervention of the police, military and other personnel, we were able to control this.” 

The air force deployed a helicopter and drones above the prison complex during the riot. Dozens of people, including relatives of inmates, gathered outside the facility on Saturday evening and had to be held back by a police cordon. 

A police curfew was imposed on Saturday night in three surrounding villages to disperse the family members and maintain peace, police said. The curfew was lifted by midday on Sunday.  

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Saad Sayeed)

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