Colombo, Mar 25: Over a hundred MPs of the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) coalition on Monday wrote to the Parliament Speaker seeking removal of the suspended Sri Lankan police chief “for bringing disrepute to the high office through his abusive conduct.”
Deshabandu Tennakoon, the suspended inspector general of police, is currently in remand custody at a central provincial jail in Kandy district in connection with a shooting incident in 2023.
“We have handed a letter with 115 signatures from our MPs to the Speaker of Parliament to seek his removal for bringing disrepute to the high office through his abusive conduct,” Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs Eranga Gunasekera told reporters.
On March 20, the magistrate’s court in the southern town of Matara ordered the remanding of Tennakoon. The next hearing of the case will be on April 3.
He surrendered to the court after being on the run for nearly three weeks.
The Matara Magistrate’s Court ordered Tennakoon’s arrest over a shooting incident in the southern resort of Weligama on December 30, 2023.
As the Inspector General, Tennakoon had sent police officers from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) to raid a resort hotel in Weligama in connection with illegal drugs. However, the Weligama police, unaware of the undercover operation, opened fire at the CCD vehicle, killing an officer.
Tennakoon was suspended in July 2024 from his duties by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a hearing on the legality of his appointment after receiving petitions regarding it.
He was appointed police chief in November 2023, despite having been found guilty of torturing a person in custody by the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights petition.
The Inspector General can only be removed through by Parliament, moved by a majority of MPs, following recommendations by a three-member committee headed by a Supreme Court judge. (PTI)
