Special Events

A ceremony to appraise male and female cadet crops and their instructors, who displayed excellent performance at the IGP Trophy Cadet Camp 2024, was held on 18.02.2025 at Kalutara Police Training College. They were enrolled for the cadet camp on 17.10.2024 at the Kalutara Police College. During the ceremony, certificates have been awarded to 316 students of 07 winning school teams and souvenirs have been given to 20 instructors and principals of such schools. This ceremony was held under the leadership of Hon. Minister to the Ministry of Public Security, Mr. Ananda Wijepala, and with the with the participation of the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, Rtd. Senior D.I.G. Mr. Ravi Senaviratne and Acting Inspector General of Police (Attorney-at-Law) Mr. Priyantha Weerasuriya, amd with the guidance of Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Chinthaka Gunaratne – Director of Police Cadet Division. Souvenirs have been given to 100 Instructors of the winning teams. In addition to that, the Police officers who have extended outstanding service to the Police Cadet Division have also appraised by awarding Souvenirs. Senior Police Officers including Senior D.I.G. Mr. P. P. S. M Dharmaratne in charge of Western Province Range and Senior D. I. G. Mr. Sajeeva Medawatta in charge of Training & Higher Training Range have participated in this event.

Deputy Inspector General of Police D.G. Samantha de Silva, who was appointed as the new Commandant of the Police Special Task Force, which was established on 01 March 1983 with 60 officers and which is currently considered the best paramilitary force in South Asia, assumed duties at the Police Special Task Force Headquarters on the morning of 13th February 2025. Old pupils of Nalanda College and a large number of officers of the Sri Lanka Police and the Police Special Task Force participated in this occasion. Deputy Inspector General of Police Samantha de Silva received training as a probationary police officer of the Police Special Task Force Second Group on 01st December 1986 and reported for duties to the Police Special Task Force on 27 March 1987 from the Police College, Kalutara. He then successfully completed the 10th Combat Training Course and commenced operation duties from the Kaluwanchikudy Camp in the Batticaloa District in July 1987. As a founding member of the jungle warfare small teams established by the Special Task Force in 1988, he has contributed to several special operations in the battles against terrorists for nearly ten years attached to that sub-platoon. Among the officers of the inspectorate attached to those jungle warfare small teams, the only officer still in the service is Deputy Inspector General of Police D.G. Samantha de Silva. In May 1990, this officer led the control of the groups involved in the robbery of tourist hotels in the Sigiriya area and the recovery of valuable property belonging to foreign tourists and weapons that were in the possession of the robbery groups. While performing his duties in the Eastern Province for small group jungle warfare operations in 1990, this officer was seriously injured in a bomb attack during the battle to capture the Thangavelayadapuram camp in the Kanjikudichchiaru forest in the Ampara area. In 1996, he was transferred to the general police duties as an Inspector and was promoted to various posts. He served at the Ministerial Security Division, the Judicial Security Division, the IG Secretariat Division, the Ombudsman Division, and as the Director of Headquarters Administration. Having served as the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Range, he is a distinguished officer with extensive experience. We extend our wishes to Deputy Inspector General of Police Samantha de Silva, who has successfully performed his duties in various fields and has been appointed as the 14th Commandant of the Police Special Task Force, for leading the Police Special Task Force to maintain law and order in a public-friendly manner.

77th National Independence Day of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka celebrated ceremoniously on 04.02.2025 at the Independence Square, Colombo, under the patronage of the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Starting from the first Independence Day celebration in 1949, the Sri Lanka Police participated in this year’s Independence Day celebration as well under the leadership of the Acting Inspector General of Police (Attorney at Law) Mr. Priyantha Weerasuriya, having ensured the security of the ceremony. The ceremony commenced with the hoisting of the national flag by the president, who arrived at the ceremony escorted by police motorcycles. Thereafter, the 77th Independence Day Ceremony commenced with the parade including, Tri-forces, Police, Civil Security Force, National Cadet Corps. Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr. Nishantha Chandrasekara who splendidly mounted horses, led and commanded the parade of the Sri Lanka Police, which is the prime government establishment which ensures and secures law and order in the country, established on September 03, 1866. Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr. Anuranga Wellage and Assistant Superintendent of Police Ruchira Karunanayake were riding on accompanying horses while bearing swords. Subsequent to that, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr. Minura Senarath marched in the parade bearing the police flag embedded with the motto – ‘Dhammo Have Rakkathi Dhamma Chari’, and the image of an elephant symbolizing the strength of the Sri Lanka Police, which has a proud history of 158 years. Two Sub Inspectors of Police marched bearing swords on either side. Then, Police Band, the oldest band of Sri Lanka, established in 1873, which proudly performed the National Anthem at the first Independence Day celebration, joined with the National Day parade under the direction of Drum Major Mr. Thusita Piumal. Sri Lanka Police platoon commanded by Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr. Lasitha Abeywickrama marched in the parade, under the supervision of Chief Drill Instructor – Police Sergeant Mr. Wijekon traveled. Consequently, Women Police platoon commanded by Women Assistant Superintendent of Police Mrs. Inoka Liyanage, marched in the parade of Independence Day celebration. Subsequently, it was the proud moment that the Police Special Task Force, which was established in 1983 and which is dubbed “the greatest paramilitary force in South Asia”, joined the parade and saluted the President.  Attorney at Law, Waruna Jayasundara, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police, serves as its Commandant.  The flag of the Special Task Force, with the motto of ‘Victory Assured’, was carried by Asela Sampath, Chief Inspector of Police.  The pride of the parade was expressed by the Special Task Force platoon commanded by P.K.N. Kulathunga, Assistant Superintendent of Police, which was led by the Police Special Task Force Band conducted by Drum Major Suneth Perera. R.M.S.K. Rathnayaka marched as the drill instructor of the Police Special Task Force.  Subsequently, the Police Mounted Officers, commanded by Mr. Kamal Paliskara, Senior Superintendent of Police joined the parade in its most colourful occasion. The Police mounted duties, established with 08 British police officers in 1921, have been recorded in history as the second occasion where mounted officers were deployed for police duties.   The rehearsals of the Independence Day parade were carried out, also in this year, under the supervision of Mr. Sajeewa Medawatte, Senior Superintendent of Police, Training and Higher Training, and commentary of the Police parade was done by Police Media Spokesperson Mr. Buddhika Manatunga, Attorney at Law, Senior Superintendent of Police.

The Sri Lanka Police has initiated and maintained the method of sending a fine sheet, against a driver who has made a traffic violation, which was identified using video footage obtained from police CCTV camera systems installed in Colombo and suburbs, to the home of the vehicle owner.Imposing the law for 12918 traffic violations thus observed until now, charge sheets along with the video showing the relevant violation have been sent to the police stations in the police area where the drivers who committed the relevant traffic violations reside.The need for new software arose due to the complexity of the software used so far for this process, which has caused great strain on the police officers performing the relevant duties.Accordingly, the new Traffic Violation Management Software, which is very user-friendly and has many technological improvements, which was obtained through the contribution of Prime Management Services (PVT) Ltd, was launched at the CCTV Division on 21.01.2025 under the patronage of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Priyantha Weerasuriya.The software is to be used in the Police CCTV Division from today, 21.01.2025, to implement the law against drivers who do not drive obeying traffic rules properly.Led by the Inspector General of Police, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Crime and Traffic, Mr. Ranmal Kodituwakku, Deputy Inspector General, Colombo Range, Mr. N.P. Liyanage, Deputy Inspector General, CCTV Range, Engineer T.P. Gamlath, Police Media Spokesperson, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr. Buddhika Manatunga, Senior Superintendent of Police, Colombo Central, Mr. Sugath Kumara, Director, CCTV Division, Mr. K.A.J. Kodithuwakku, and Mr. Ruchira Somarathna, Senior Manager of Prime Management Services (Pvt) Ltd, and the representatives of the said company, participated in the launch of the software.

A program to provide, as a symbolic gesture, 30 speed guns worth over Rs. 91 million to traffic officers by the Sri Lanka Police to detect speeding drivers was held at the Police Headquarters this morning, on 11th January 2025, under the auspices of the acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Priyantha Weerasooriya.Accordingly, as the first phase of this program, these speed guns were provided to the officers in charge of the Negombo, Kelaniya, and Gampaha Divisions and to the Director of the Western Province South Motor Traffic Division, and these speed gun equipment kits are scheduled to be provided to traffic branches covering all police divisions in the Island in the future. Furthermore, the Police Traffic Headquarters intends to provide the traffic offices with the necessary training on how to use these speed guns in the near future.These speed guns, made in America, function using the laser technology and have been manufactured in such a way that can be used for special nighttime motor traffic operations as well.24,589 accidents were reported in the previous year, 2024, and out of those, 2,242 were fatal accidents. 2,253 people have lost their lives due to these accidents. The police have implemented law with regard to 31,182 instances of speeding, and the number of accidents that occurred due to speeding was 731. Taking this situation into account, Sri Lanka Police intends to utilise these speed guns with the intention of minimising road accidents.

The representatives of several bus owners’ associations held a discussion with the Acting Inspector General of Police Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Priyantha Weerasooriya stating that the bus drivers and bus owners have been put to great inconvenience due to the special traffic operation initiated by the Sri Lanka Police under the Clean Sri Lanka National Project to ensure public safety on the road. This meeting was held at Police Headquarters in the morning on 08.01.2025. During this discussion Inspector General of Police emphasized that the discipline shown by the people of a country on the road is a measure of the state of the country, and that the number of accidents reported daily has dropped significantly due to these operations conducted under the existing laws and the Inspector General of Police explained to the bus association owners that the law will be enforced continuously to remove the illegal spare parts installed on the vehicles to reduce the loss of life in the event of a traffic accident. The Inspector General further stated that within the two week period given for removal of illegal spare parts, removal of spare parts in such a manner as to increase loss of life in the event of an accident should be done and three months could be given to remove other spare parts or to include those parts in the registration certificate of the vehicle. Further, the Inspector General of Police mentioned here that regardless of the objections of the bus owners and drivers, police officers dressed in civilian clothes will continue to identify cases of traffic violations while traveling in buses for the sake of protecting the lives of the public.

Since it is highly important, the active involvement of police canines in eliminating crimes as well as drugs from Sri Lanka, the Police Kennel Division takes constant actions to acquire expertise on special trainings of canines. Recently, a few canines belonging to the breeds that can be trained for performing police kennel duties have been brought to Sri Lanka from the Netherlands, and in the meantime, police officers are being engaged in training those canines. Mr. Arnold Van Den Oeteaar and Mr. Kenneth Mathias, the dutch officials who came to Sri Lanka to provide the necessary support and expertise to the program, met  Mr. Priyantha Weerasuriya,(Attorney at Law) the acting Inspector General of Police, today at the Office of the Inspector General of Police and held a discussion with respect to the said program.

‘Tell IGP’ Service, which was functionning to provide you with the opportunity to present your ideas and suggestions regarding the police service, as well as any type of complaint that should be brought to the attention of the Inspector General of Police, was re-established on the morning of 06.01.2025 under the leadership of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Prinayantha Weerasooriya. To obtain this service that offers prompt responses, you should visit the E-Service link on the official website ‘www.police.lk’ and select the ‘Tell IGP’ icon and submit the complaint by entering the correct information in the form. Link- https://telligp.police.lk/  If you feel that your complaint lodged at the police station is not being properly investigated, please forward it to the Inspector General of Police. This is a service which is provided round the clock.  

The new Police Post, Badowita in the Grama Niladhari Division of Katukurunduwatta Badowita of Police Area, Mount Lavinia was declared open on 01.01.2025 under the leadership of Hon. Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs – Mr. Ravi Senaviratne and Acting Inspector General of Police Mr. Priyantha Weerasuriya (Attorney-at-Law). There are 3250 houses in the Katukurunduwatta Grama Niladhari Division and the total population of the area is approximately 12990. Having established the new Police Post, it is expected to provide more efficient Police service to the residents, while strengthening the information network to combat drugs and crime in the area. Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Western Province – Mr. K. P. Mahinda Gunaratne, Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge Western Province South Range – Mr. Gayantha Marapana, Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of Mount Lavinia Division – Mr. Prasanna Brahmanage and Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of Nugegoda Division – Mr. Mangala Dehideniya participated in this event.

A new technological project implemented by the Sri Lanka Police under the Clean Sri Lanka national programme was introduced to the public at the Police Headquarters on 01.01.2025 under the patronage of Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasooriya, the Acting Inspector General of Police. The project has introduced an app called ‘Sri Lanka Police eTraffic’, which allows obtaining information from among the public to identify traffic offenders with the view of reducing traffic accidents. The facility to download this app by visiting the official website of Sri Lanka Police, www.police.lk, and clicking the e-service icon, has been offered.  (Link – https://www.police.lk/?page_id=647) It is possible to upload photos or videos of vehicles driving recklessly on the road violating traffic rules and of reckless drivers. The photos and videos will be monitored by the operation room at the Police Headquarters and forwarded to the relevant investigation bodies for law enforcement.