COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's police chief is set to be sacked, the country's speaker of parliament announced Tuesday (July 22) after he was found guilty of heading a criminal network at an impeachment hearing.
Inspector-General Deshabandu Tennakoon would become the first head of police in the island's history to be impeached after being deemed unfit to lead its 85,000-strong police force.
A three-member committee, appointed by the parliament, unanimously found Tennakoon guilty of the allegations brought against him, said speaker Jagath Wickramaratne.
"This marks a historic moment in our constitutional journey, the first time in the history... that such a committee has submitted its findings recommending the removal of an Inspector General of Police".
An impeachment vote will be scheduled and is expected to pass in the 225-member parliament, where President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's government holds a two-thirds majority.
Tennakoon was appointed police chief in November 2023, despite Sri Lanka's highest court ruling that he had tortured a suspect in custody by rubbing menthol balm on the victim's genitals.
He also stands accused of authorising an ill-fated raid in 2023, which triggered a gun battle between rival police units in the coastal resort town of Weligama and led to the death of an officer.
Sri Lanka's apex court suspended him in July 2024, pending the outcome of a separate case that questioned the legality of his appointment by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe.
A state prosecutor told the court this year that Tennakoon was the "head of a criminal network".
This latest move against Tennakoon comes days after the independent National Police Commission sacked the number two officer in the police force, Senior Deputy Inspector General Nilantha Jayawardena.
Jayawardena was dismissed for negligence leading to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people. - AFP
