11 candidates arrested for violating election laws

Sri Lanka Police says it has so far received 340 complaints related to the upcoming parliamentary election.

At a press briefing held today (08), Police Media Spokesperson DIG Nihal Thalduwa stated that a total of 364 individuals, including 11 candidates and 356 supporters, have been arrested for election law violations.

Of the complaints received, 54 are of a criminal nature, while 286 are related to election law violations. Police have also seized 94 vehicles.

Additionally, Police have removed over 1.07 million posters and seized an additional 500,000 illegally transported posters. Authorities have taken down 855 banners, confiscated 458 banners, removed 1,010 cutouts, and taken an additional 1,322 cutouts into custody. Furthermore, police have removed 5,045 leaflets and taken into custody over 64,000 leaflets, he said.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission reported an increase in election-related complaints, with 150 received as of yesterday (07). 

Of these, 149 were for election law violations, and one complaint involved an incident of violence. 

Since September 26, the Election Commission has received a total of 2,088 complaints, with 2,023 related to election law violations and 20 incidents of violence.