Minister orders probe into attack on medical faculty students

Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara has directed the IGP to conduct a thorough investigation into the attack on Medical Faculty students in Ragama.

He also said that two police teams have already been deployed to carry out investigations. 

Issuing a special statement on the incident, Minister Weerasekara said that a complaint has been received that a group of outsiders had forcibly entered the premises of the Medical Faculty in Ragama last night and had attacked the medical students. 

“I have already instructed the IGP to carry out a thorough and complete investigation into the incident,” he said, adding that under the supervision of the Senior DIG in charge of Western Province, the SSP in charge of Kelaniya division has already dispatched two special police teams to conduct investigations and arrest the suspects.  

He added that the medical students had apprehended a vehicle belonging to a state institution and its driver and handed them over to the Ragama Police and that he has instructed to investigate along the available evidence and arrest the suspects responsible.

The minister said that he has specially instructed the police chief to implement the law against all the individuals responsible regardless of their positions.   

It was reported that a group of outsiders had forcibly entered the men’s hostel of the Kelaniya University’s Faculty of Medicine in Ragama at around 3.00 a.m. this morning and attacked several students.

Police had confirmed that three students who sustained injuries in the incident were admitted to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama. One of them was later transferred to the Negombo Hospital for further treatment.

The suspects had reportedly arrived in two cars and had fled after the attack while the students had managed to apprehend one of the individuals along with a car, which reportedly belongs to the Coconut Development Authority. 

An official ID was found inside the car while it had been issued in 2018 to a driver of State Minister Arundika Fernando’s personal staff.