President Ranil Wickremesinghe has granted C.D. Wickramaratne another service extension as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Public Security Ministry said.

Accordingly, IGP Wickramaratne has been granted a 03-month service extension from today as the police chief, subject to the approval of the Constitutional Council, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD). 

A special meeting took place between the President and the Public Security Minister this evening (July 09) to decide on appointing a new Inspector-General of Police (IGP) due to impending retirement of Wickramaratne.

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe had reportedly tasked Minister Alles with deciding whether former IGP C.D. Wickramaratne should be given another tenure extension or an Acting IGP should be appointed.

Wickramaratne was initially supposed to retire from the police service on March 26, 2023, however, President Wickremesinghe extended his tenure by three months until June 26 by way of a special gazette notification dated April 06.

Thus, the position of IGP was set to be vacant since the end of Wickramaratne’s tenure on 26 June.

Senior Deputy Inspector-Generals of Police (SDIGs) Deshabandu Tennakoon, Nilantha Jayawardena, Lalith Pathinayake, Priyantha Weerasooriya and Ajith Rohana were reportedly among the nominations for the top post of the police force.