FSP supporters storm Passport Office; clash with police

A clash erupted between police personnel and Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) supporters who forcibly entered the Department of Immigration and Emigration (passport office) building in Colombo and damaged property. 

The FSP supporters had engaged in a protest outside the building demanding the release of the party’s politburo member Premakumar ‘Kumar’ Gunaratnam, who was sentenced to one year imprisonment for violating immigration laws. 

The protesters, mostly comprising university students, had behaved in a disorderly manner and then proceeded to storm the Passport Office, while causing damage to the building and its gate.  

They had then clashed with police officers who had attempted to bring the situation under control and disperse the protesters, Ada Derana reporter said. 

Gunaratnam, a member of Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), was sentenced to one year in jail and slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000 by the Kegalle Magistrates Court yesterday (31).

He was arrested by the police in November last year for overstaying his entry visa.

Gunaratnam, 49, returned to the island in January 2015 in time for the presidential election and had remained in the country illegally. He extended his 30-day tourist visa since January 31.

He had been deported from the country in 2013 for entering the country on a false passport carrying another name.