Sri Lankan prison minister resigns after threatening to kill Tamil prisoners
Colombo, (PTI): Sri Lanka's Minister of State for Prisons Management Lohan Ratwatte tendered his resignation on Wednesday, days after he allegedly threatened to kill Tamil prisoners during his visit to the Anuradhapura prison in the country's northern central region, a senior official said.
Ratwatte's resignation came as pressure mounted on him after the Tamil political parties sought his resignation and arrest over the incident.
The resignation was accepted by the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Kingsley Ratnayake, the presidential spokesman, said.
Ratwatte allegedly went to the Anuradhapura prison on September 12 and forced two prisoners to kneel and threatened to kill them.
His act prompted the Tamil parties to condemn his behaviour and call for his resignation.
We call on the government to immediately remove the state minister for prison management and have him arrested and charged after an immediate inquiry for allegedly threatening to kill prisoners in Anuradhapura on Sunday, September 12, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said in a tweet.
Galen Ponnambalam, the leader of the Tamil National People's Front tweeted also confirmed the incident.
The TNPF can confirm that on the evening of September, 12 the state minister for Prisons had gone to the Anuradhapura prisons, summoned the Tamil political prisoners and had got two of them to kneel in front of him, he said in a tweet.
Ponnambalam said the minister had threatened to kill Tamil prisoners.
The local media reports alleged that the minister had visited the main prison in Colombo to show the gallows to a group of his friends late at night before heading to the north central town of Anuradhapura.
He was allegedly carrying his personal weapon into the prison which the prison officials said was an illegal act.
The relevant minister's office has denied any such incident involving the minister, the local media reports said.
The incident and act of the minister has also been condemned by the United Nations.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said that it is the duty of the State to protect the rights of prisoners, the Colombo Gazette reported.
In our work on prison reform and drug rehabilitation, UN Sri Lanka works to strengthen capacities to uphold the rights of all those in custody and condemns any ill treatment of prisoners, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy tweeted on Wednesday.
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Four arrested, minor detained for killing teenager in UP's Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur (UP)(PTI) Police on Tuesday arrested four persons and detained a boy in connection with the killing of a teenager at a school here, officials said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Dayanand alias Chhotu, Hrithik Roshan alias Roshan, Uday alias Kishan Kumar and Deepak, all residents of Pipraich police station area here and aged 19-20, the police officials said.
The detained minor will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, they said.
Police recovered a country-made pistol and a motorcycle allegedly used by the accused in the commission of the crime, they added.
Superintendent of Police (North) Gyanendra Nath Prasad said the arrests were made following sustained investigation and technical surveillance, and further legal proceedings were underway.
According to police, Sudhir Bharti (17), a class 11 student, was shot dead by the accused on December 26 over old enmity and a dispute triggered by social media posts in the playground of a school in the Pipraich area here.
Based on the complaint filed by Bharti's family, a case was registered under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 61(2) (party to a criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
According to eyewitnesses, Bharti was in the playground when he had an argument with a person from the same neighbourhood.
The argument escalated and the accused shot him with a country-made pistol, killing him on the spot, they said.
