2012 Welikada Prison Massacre : Death sentence for former prison commissioner

January 12, 2022 at 6:40 PM

Former Prisons Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa has been sentenced to death by Colombo High Court in connection with the 2012 Welikada Prison Riot case.

Meanwhile, IP Neomal Rangajeeva has been acquitted from all charges.

Emil Ranjan Lamahewa, was the prison superintendent at the time of the incident

A special three-judge bench comprising Justices Gihan Kulatunga, Pradeep Hettiarachchi and Manjula Tilakaratne delivered the verdict.

The Attorney General had filed indictments against Inspector of Police Moses Rangajeewa of Police Narcotics Bureau, Superintendent of Magazine Prison Lamahewage Emil Ranjan and Indika Sampath, an officer attached to the Prisons intelligence unit in connection with the Welikada Prison Riot.

The court proceeded with the trial in the absentia of the third accused Indika Sampath who is absconding court since the inception of the CID investigations.

The defendants were charged of 33 counts including the killing of eight inmates selected by the defendants in the industrial area of the prison, the conspiracy to murder and illegally assembling a mass of people while the conflict was being suppressed.

The riot at the highly-guarded Welikada Prison in Colombo broke out on November 9, 2012, during a search for illegal arms within the prison premises.

The riot had left 27 inmates dead and 40 injured. (NewsWire)