Member of Parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has raised serious concerns over the conduct of Sri Lankan police following the fatal shooting of a Tamil teenager in Jaffna, warning that those accused of wrongdoing are often the very ones tasked with investigating it.
He made the remarks while responding to the incident in Allaipiddy, where a young boy was killed after Sri Lankan police opened fire on a vehicle that had allegedly failed to comply with an order to stop.
Ponnambalam stated that even in a non-conflict environment such as Jaffna, it could not be justified for police to use lethal force in such circumstances. He noted that the Sri Lankan President himself is able to move freely through the streets of Jaffna, and therefore the use of deadly force by police in such a setting is indefensible.
“If the Sri Lankan police instruct a vehicle to stop and the driver fails to comply, the officers may take necessary measures to bring the vehicle to a halt — but they cannot shoot and kill the driver.”
He also raised questions regarding claims made by police about items allegedly found in the vehicle. Referring to reports that cow dung had been discovered inside the van, Ponnambalam said that the material appeared to have been placed there deliberately. A polythene bag containing cow dung was reportedly found around 50 feet away from the vehicle, which he said further heightened suspicions about the official account.
Against this backdrop, Ponnambalam expressed deep scepticism over whether a fair and impartial investigation would be carried out. He stated that the current legal and security framework enables such abuses, noting that under emergency regulations, Sri Lankan police are granted powers similar to those of the military. He recalled that during earlier periods of emergency rule in the North and East, both police and military personnel were implicated in numerous offences and shielded from accountability through those same provisions.
He further stressed that even if an individual is suspected of criminal activity, it is unacceptable for police to use lethal force in this manner. “A proper and just investigation must be carried out,” he said.
Highlighting what he described as a systemic failure of accountability, Ponnambalam added that in Sri Lanka, “those accused of committing crimes are themselves tasked with investigating the allegations against them.” In this case, he noted, the same Sri Lankan police officers accused in the shooting are reportedly conducting the investigation.
The killing has intensified concerns among Tamils over continued impunity for security force abuses in the Tamil homeland, where checkpoints, surveillance and heavy policing remain in place years after the end of the armed conflict.