Police reported on Sunday that Sri Lanka sent hundreds of troops and elite commandos to calm disturbances at an overcrowded prison where one inmate was murdered and six others wounded. The situation was brought under control after the inmates set fire to several structures inside Mahara Prison on Saturday, just outside the capital Colombo, deputy police inspector-general Sanjeewa Medawatte said. Reinforcements from the armed forces and the Special Task Force commandos have been received to restore order and send the inmates back to their cells,” Medawatte told reporters outside the prison.
In November 2020, a riot broke out at the jail where 11 inmates were shot and killed and about 120 others wounded Sri Lankan Army officers patrol on a military tank outside the Mahara Prison complex on the outskirts of Colombo on Sunday. The current violence followed another jail rebellion in the same region nearly a month ago that killed 10 guards and 21 inmates.
Medawatte stated prisoners at Mahara Prison had completely demolished the kitchen, the infirmary, a freshly erected rehabilitation building and vocational training facilities.
The prison was holding 4,100 prisoners, or four above its capacity, a problem facing jails across the country.
Last month, authorities announced intentions to turn unused public facilities into prisons. More over three-quarters of Sri Lanka’s convicts are on remand, awaiting trial, and most of them are in custody for narcotics charges.
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