Police officers at every station in the Jaffna district have had their leave cancelled until further notice.
The announcement was made to all officers-in-charge by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) for the Northern Province on Thursday.
The DIG reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with the handling of growing crime in the district, including gang violence and robberies, and said that leave would not be granted until the problems had been appropriately dealt with.
Locals have also expressed their frustration with the police’s failure to deal with reports of criminal activity in the district, including gang violence, drug smuggling and dealing, and robberies.
There have also been accusations that police carry out mass arrests of innocent young Tamil men to create the appearance of cracking down on criminal activities, while allowing and supporting actual criminal networks in the district to operate undisturbed.
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