Three arrested over tense situation near Hanguranketha police station

The police have arrested three individuals who behaved in an unruly manner during a tense situation that ensued in front of the Hanguranketha police station last week.

One was arrested on Sunday (July 02) while the other two were taken into custody on Monday (July 03).

The trio, a 35-year-old woman and two men aged 46 and 53, have been produced before the Walapane Magistrate’s Court. Accordingly, the two male suspects were remanded until July 06 while the female suspect was released on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000.

A commotion broke out outside the Hanguranketha police station on June 21, following the death of a 23-year-old named Sandalu Santhush and his father who had been brutally assaulted by a group over a land dispute. The father-son duo was fighting for life at the Kandy National Hospital for over four days until they succumbed to injuries on June 26.

The residents of the area, who were infuriated by the murder of the father-son duo and the failure to arrest the suspects who were at large, had staged a protest in front of the police station and tried to storm the premises.

As the tense situation ensued, the police officers had fired nearly 38 warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the unruly protesters, who then proceeded to stage a demonstration on the Hanguranketha-Kandy main for nearly an hour.