Despite 16 days passing since the Matara Magistrate’s Court issued an order for the arrest of former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon and six other police officers in connection with the shooting incident outside the U-15 Hotel in Weligama’s Pelena area, authorities have yet to apprehend any of the suspects.
Law enforcement has also been unable to determine the whereabouts of the main suspect, former IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tennakoon filed a petition with the court seeking to prevent his arrest.
In addition to Tennakoon, the Matara Magistrate’s Court ordered the arrest of six others, including Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Anslam de Silva. However, the police have not taken any action to detain them either.
One of the accused officers recently surrendered to the court and was subsequently released on bail. However, there remains no clear information regarding the whereabouts of the remaining suspects—whether they are in hiding, have left the country, or have filed pending bail applications with the court.
The court’s arrest order for the six police officers, including Deshabandu Tennakoon, was issued on February 28th under case number 6314/23. The charges include conspiracy to commit murder.
This ongoing delay in arrests has raised concerns over the enforcement of judicial orders in high-profile cases.
