Sri Lanka to sack police chief over criminal ties
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's police chief is set to be sacked, the country's Speaker of Parliament announced on 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 the general 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.
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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 in 2025 that Tennakoon was the 'head of a criminal network'.
This latest move against Tennakoon comes days after the independent National Police Commission
sacked the No. 2 officer in the police force, Senior Deputy Inspector General Nilantha Jayawardena.
Gen Jayawardena was dismissed for negligence leading to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people. AFP
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