Author name: Tharindu Withanage

An awareness and demonstration walk organised at the Independence Square in Colombo in line with the International Day against Drug Abuse, which fell on 26.06.2025, was held with the participation of the Hon. Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Mr Ananda Wijepala, Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Mr Sunil Watagala, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Mr Ravi Seneviratne, and Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law Mr Priyantha Weerasooriya, as well as numerous other parties.

Nilmini Nita Samaratunga, Attorney-at-Law, assumed duties as the new Acting Chairperson of the Police Family Welfare Association and the Police Seva Vanitha Unit, which organizes various programs for the welfare of Sri Lanka Police officers and their families at various stages of their lives by providing benefits to them. She is the wife of the current Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law, Priyantha Weerasooriya. The Police Family Welfare Association was established on 23rd November 1971 by Mrs. Maya Senanayake, wife of the then Inspector General of Police, Stanley Senanayake, to provide welfare to the families of police officers who lost their lives due to the war situation prevailing at that time. It is currently actively working for the welfare of all officers by involving the wives of police officers above the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police. Maintaining three pre-schools, providing assistance for the education of children of officers who died or were disabled in the line of duty, providing death benefits, providing university assistance, providing financial assistance for emergency surgeries, giving prizes to children who excel in various fields such as scholarship examinations, and maintaining stalls to earn money for services are some of the functions it performs. The inauguration ceremony of the new president, who was appointed to oversee the proper management of those functions, was attended by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Police Welfare Directorate, Mrs. Padmini Weerasuriya, former presidents, Mrs. Wasantha Silva, Nandani Fernando, Mrs. Prashanthi Fernando, the Honorary Secretary of the association, Mrs. P. Wijesuriya, and many other responsible officers.

The new four-storey administrative building constructed on the premises of the National Police Academy in Katana was inaugurated on the morning of 24.06.2025 under the leadership of the Hon. Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ananda Wijepala. Concurrently, the official website developed for the National Police Academy (https://npa.gov.lk/) was also launched. The National Police Academy in Katana has started and conducts several courses to equip police officers representing every police rank with the knowledge required to perform their duties efficiently while keeping abreast with the fast-moving world. Having identified new social issues that arise from time to time and starting courses to educate police officers to suit such matters is also a great service offered by this establishment. Further training courses are being conducted with foreign training institutions such as the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA) and the Association of Police Training Institutions in Asia (APTA) in order to impart knowledge of foreign languages such as Hindi, Chinese, Arabic, and Korean to the police officers of this country to deal with tourists as well as to represent foreign peacekeeping forces. The National Police Academy, which currently conducts 02 Higher Diploma courses, 07 Diploma courses, 01 Advanced Certificate course and 24 short-term courses, has so far trained 6670 officers since 2023. Furthermore, it has also taken steps to conduct degree programmes for police officers in collaboration with state universities and has awarded degrees and diplomas to 735 officers. The main objective of offering such new infrastructure facilities is to significantly increase the said number of officers and to shape officers with good personality to serve the world. The Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ravi Seneviratne, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, Mrs. Malika Suriyapperuma, Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Priyantha Weerasooriya, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police – Western Province, Mr. Sanjeewa Dharmaratne, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Training and Higher Training Range, Mr. Sajeewa Medawatte, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Special Security Range, Mr. Dinesh Karunaratne, as well as professors and lecturers of local universities and staff participated in this event.

The new Eastern Province Crime Division, established at the premises of the office of the Superintendent of Police, Batticaloa, was declared open on the afternoon of 03.06.2025 under the patronage of the Acting Inspector General of Police. The officers assigned to this division are tasked with conducting investigations and apprehending wanted suspects involved in serious crimes and masterminding illegal activities reported to police stations throughout the Eastern Province. Mr. Waruna Jayasundara, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Eastern Province; Mr. M. N. S. Mendis, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Batticaloa Range; Mr. G. Lalith Leelarathna, Superintendent of Police in charge of Batticaloa Division; Mr. A. L. Mohammad Jamil, Assistant Superintendent of Police; and the officers in charge of police stations in Batticaloa district also participated in this occasion.