Police officer arrested over Narammala firearm discharge remanded

The police officer, who was arrested over the alleged ‘accidental’ firearm discharge in Narammala in which a lorry driver was killed, has been remanded.

Accordingly, he has been remanded until January 23 on the orders of Narammala Magistrate’s Court.

The lorry driver, 41, was killed on Thursday night (Jan.18) after a police officer clad in civvies ‘accidentally’ discharged his firearm during a vehicle inspection. He was identified as a resident of Maharachchimulla area.

The police media division said he had failed to comply with the signal to stop at a checkpoint in Dampelessa, Narammala.

A Sub-Inspector (SI) and a Constable had then chased down the lorry and pulled it over for a spot inspection, during which the SI ‘accidentally’ discharged his firearm, critically wounding the driver. He was rushed to the Narammala District Hospital, however, he succumbed to injuries shortly after.

Meanwhile, a heated situation was reported in front of the Narammala police station following the incident after the enraged family and relatives of the deceased and the area residents staged a protest.

As the situation got out of hand when they began to cause property damage, a team of Police Special Task Force (STF) was also deployed to disperse the protesters.