The Sri Lanka Police has been without an Inspector General of Police for almost two weeks now.
Although there are said to be administrative issues, nothing has arisen so far. This is due to the fact that currently most of the administrative work of the police is done by senior DIGs.
Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena in charge of the administrative division performed a great service during this period. Nilantha Jayawardena, the senior officer in the police department after the Inspector General of Police, has been filling the gap in the post of Inspector General for the past few days. It is not us who say that, but the officers of the police headquarters.
But during this period, Nilantha Jayawardena was not appointed or his name was proposed for that purpose. Only two names had been proposed by the authorities to oversee the work of the Inspector General of Police. The names of the officers are Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasuriya in charge of Crime and Traffic Division and Sanjeeva Dharmaratne, Senior DIG in charge of Sabaragamuwa Province.
Above these officers are Nilantha Jayawardena, Lalith S. Patinayake and Deshabandu Thennakoon, respectively. Priyantha Weerasuriya and Sanjeeva Dharmaratne are in the fourth and fifth positions respectively. While there were three senior officers above them, two officers of lower seniority are appointed to the acting IGP because the three above have been charged with the Easter attack. Charge sheets have been given to them and so far only the charge sheet related to Deshbandu Tennakoon has been expeditiously examined. The information related to the commission disclosed that the Police Commission met on the last 7th and considering the progress of the investigation against Deshbandu Tennakoon and has decided to acquit him of all charges. Attempts were made to contact an official of the Commission to get official information about this, but it was unsuccessful.
However, according to political insiders, the crisis regarding the Inspector General’s office will be resolved by tomorrow (09) evening. It is more likely that C.D. Wickramaratne himself to get another extension of service. It is not clear how long the extension will be, but it will be no less than three months. Sometimes this service extension may be beyond 03 months.
If CD Wickramaratne gets a service extension again, the current crisis regarding the post of Inspector General of Police will be resolved only for the period related to that service extension. Again, a crisis regarding the post of Inspector General will arise with the end of the service extension, which will be worse than this situation. That is because there is a big competition for the post of Inspector General. Religious leaders, politicians, civil organizations, the legal community, and police personnel are involved in that competition. That is why the situation regarding the Inspector General of Police has intensified.
However, political sources revealed that there was a special discussion between Public Security Minister Tiran Alas and C.D. Wickramaratne last Thursday and today (08) regarding the future work of the police. The information further revealed that there was a long discussion between the Minister and the Inspector General of Police about the future of the police.
Political information disclosed that a special discussion regarding the post of Inspector General of Police will be held between the President and Minister Tiran Alas tomorrow (09) and C.D. Wickramaratne is likely to attend the event. The information further disclosed that the problem has been resolved at the Inspector General’s office, often at the end of this discussion or during that.
