Police say that 5 people have been arrested following investigations right into a video circulated on-line by which abusive language was used in opposition to the President, allegedly in reference to a seatbelt-related incident, whereas additionally obstructing cops within the discharge of their duties.
These arrested embody a 33-year-old bus driver from Wellawaya and 4 residents of Katana.
The Leyland bus by which the suspects have been travelling has additionally been taken into police custody. The automobile is because of be produced earlier than a motorcar examiner in reference to a variety of offences, together with the unsafe set up of a metallic grill that obstructs the entrance windscreen.
Disciplinary motion has additionally been taken in opposition to cops over the failure to implement the regulation on the time of the incident. Accordingly, the Chief Inspector who was serving because the Officer-in-Cost on the Mattala Interchange has been transferred to Police Headquarters, whereas a police sergeant and a constable have been transferred to the expressway police posts at Kadawatha and Kottawa, respectively.
The incident occurred on the sixteenth, when a bunch travelling from Negombo to Kataragama on a pilgrimage in a Leyland bus arrived on the Mattala Interchange whereas returning to Negombo. As cops tried to implement the regulation after stating that passengers weren’t sporting seatbelts, a number of people alighted from the bus, verbally abused the officers, recorded movies utilizing cellphones, together with footage inside different autos, and used abusive language in opposition to each the cops and the President. The movies have been subsequently uploaded to the web.
