COLOMBO, Mar 17: Sri Lanka’s suspended police chief Deshabandu Tennakoon on Monday lost his appeal at the Court of Appeal seeking an order to stay the arrest warrant issued against him by a local court.
The Appeal Court refused his plea without a hearing, court officials said.
The two-judge bench, headed by Justice (Acting President) Mohamed Laffar, also directed the police to execute the arrest warrant issued against Tennakoon.
Tennakoon, under suspension since July 2024, remains a fugitive and has been hiding since the Magistrate’s court in the southern town of Matara on February 28 ordered his arrest over the December 2023 incident in the southern resort of Weligama.
Tennakoon, as the inspector general, had sent police officers from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) to the resort hotel in Weligama for a raid in connection with illegal drugs. However, the Weligama police, unaware of the undercover operation, opened fire at the CCD vehicle, killing an officer.
The police sought public support to arrest their chief while deploying six teams to hunt for Tennakoon after the Matara court order.
Several raids on his likely locations with a travel ban on him have proved futile.
Tennakoon was suspended in July 2024 from functioning by the Supreme Court, which also ordered a hearing on the legality of his appointment after it received petitions regarding it.
He was appointed as the police chief in November 2023 despite him being found guilty of torturing a person in custody by the Supreme Court in a fundamental rights petition.
An acting police chief was appointed in November last year pending the outcome of Tennekoon’s case. (PTI)
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