Sri Lankan police have denied abducting a former LTTE cadre at gunpoint in Trincomalee, claiming instead that the abduction was an arrest for which police had a warrant.
On Tuesday, 39-year-old Manoharadas Subas was forced into a vehicle at gunpoint by unknown persons who said that he was being taken to the Uppuveli police station. Subas’s family went to the Uppuveli police station but were told that no police officers there had any involvement in the incident.
Police Spokesperson SSP Nihal Thalduwa denied the abduction and told The Morning “That was not an abduction. Protocol was followed and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Subhash by the Colombo Crime Division (CCD). He was arrested on suspicion over the ongoing Narahenpita hospital hand grenade investigations.”
Former Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) commissioner Ambika Satkunanathan questioned the police response, asking why the police had not identified themselves properly, stated the reason for arrest or where they were taking him, or issued an arrest receipt.