IP Rangajeewa apologises to photojournalist over court incident

Former OIC of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) Inspector of Police Neomal Rangajeewa has apologized to the photojournalist, over yesterday’s incident at the Hulftsdorp court complex.

Rangajeewa has apologized to the journalist for having caused any inconvenience.  

The Police officer was accused of forceful obstruction, intimidation and threats, disrupting the work of professional photojournalist Akila Jayawardena at the Colombo High Court premises, Court no 1.

Jayawardene has stated that the former OIC of Police Narcotics Bureau, who is also the first suspect in the Welikada prison murder case, had threatened him, while he was taking photographs of the OIC entering the courthouse to appear for the court case that was being heard.

He further states that despite him showing his media accreditation ID which was grossly disregarded, he was forcibly taken to the police station at the court premises, where Mr Rangajeewa had removed the ‘memory card’ from his camera.

The journalist had filed a complaint with police over the incident yesterday. 

The Director General of Government Information today called on the Acting IGP to carry out an impartial investigation into the incident.