Police officer killed in shooting during arrest attempt posthumously promoted

The Police Sergeant who succumbed to his injuries this morning (12 Feb.) after being shot while attempting to apprehend a suspect in the Malwathu Hirpitiya area recently, has been posthumously promoted.

Accordingly, Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa stated that the Police Sergeant in question had been posthumously promoted to the rank of Sub-Inspector (SI), on orders of the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon.

On Saturday (10 Feb.), a team of officers from the Malwathu Hiripitiya Police Station had attempted to apprehend a suspect in the Batepola area, when a scuffle had broken out, after which the suspect had attempted to grab the firearm of the police officer in question.

The firearm had then discharged injuring the 51-year-old police officer, while the suspect had then fled with the officer’s service firearm. 

The injured Police Sergeant, identified as a resident of Ihala Lunugama, had been admitted to the Gampola Hospital while he was later transferred to the Colombo National Hospital, where he had succumbed to injuries early this morning.