-By LeN Political Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -21.Aug.2025, 11.30 PM) The former Inspector General of Police, Deshbandu Tennakoon, was yesterday (20) taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and produced before the Colombo Main Magistrate’s Court. Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura ordered that he be remanded until August 27, rejecting an earlier bail application filed on his behalf.
Tennakoon, once one of the most powerful men in the Sri Lankan police force, is now accused of having failed in his duty — or worse, having deliberately allowed — the brutal attack on unarmed demonstrators at Galle Face Green on May 9, 2021. That episode, etched into the nation’s collective memory, was the turning point of Sri Lanka’s most significant citizens’ uprising in recent decades: a spontaneous revolt against economic collapse, corruption, and authoritarian governance.
The protests at Galle Face, known as the Aragalaya or “struggle,” began in early 2021 amid soaring inflation, crippling fuel shortages, and food scarcity. Thousands of Sri Lankans — professionals, students, clergy, and ordinary workers — occupied the open stretch of land near Colombo’s seafront, demanding accountability from then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government.
What had begun as a peaceful demonstration was, by early May, a tinderbox of political tensions. Pro-government mobs, reportedly mobilised by local politicians, descended on the protest site on May 9, wielding sticks, iron rods and even crude weapons. They stormed makeshift tents, attacked protesters, and left scores injured.
International media carried images of young Sri Lankans bloodied and bruised, beaten on the very ground where they had demanded accountability. The brutality of the assault shocked the conscience of the nation — and drew strong condemnation from the international community.
Appearing before Magistrate Lankapura, state counsel representing the Attorney General’s Department argued that Tennakoon, then Senior DIG for Colombo, could have stopped the violence but chose not to.
According to submissions made in court, the CID told the magistrate that Tennakoon had been present near both the Galle Face protest site and the Taj Samudra Hotel area at the time of the assault. He allegedly instructed riot-control water cannon units not to act until he personally gave the order — effectively ensuring no dispersal of the pro-government mobs.
More damning still, the CID noted that Tennakoon’s own statements during interrogation attempted to shift responsibility onto two other senior figures of the time: the then Defence Secretary and the then Inspector General of Police. Tennakoon claimed that both had directed him to hold back riot control. Yet, written testimony obtained from the pair flatly denies issuing such orders.
The implication is clear: either Tennakoon fabricated the claims to protect himself, or he acted independently — and wilfully — to allow the violence to continue.
A central concern in remanding Tennakoon is the question of witness protection.
Prosecutors argued that several police officers who were on duty on May 9 had previously been unwilling to provide statements, fearing retaliation from a serving Senior DIG. Now that Tennakoon has been dismissed and arrested, those same officers have indicated a willingness to testify.
But if Tennakoon were granted bail, the CID warned, there was a “serious risk” that he could exert influence or intimidate witnesses, thereby obstructing the inquiry. Magistrate Lankapura agreed with the prosecution, noting that the integrity of the investigation required Tennakoon’s continued detention.
She further directed prison authorities to ensure Tennakoon’s personal security while in remand, implicitly acknowledging the sensitivity of holding such a high-profile former police officer in a system where reprisals and political vendettas are not unheard of.
This is the second time Tennakoon’s bail application has been denied. His legal team argued vigorously that he posed no flight risk and that the allegations did not justify extended detention. They painted their client as a scapegoat in a political drama still playing out years after the fall of the Rajapaksa administration.
But Magistrate Lankapura was unpersuaded. The weight of evidence, combined with the potential for interference, meant that bail was again refused. Tennakoon will now remain behind bars until at least August 27, by which point the CID is expected to have advanced its inquiries further.
For Tennakoon, the fall has been dramatic. Until recently, he was tipped for the highest policing post in the country. He rose rapidly through the ranks during the Rajapaksa years, earning a reputation as a hardliner and loyal enforcer.
Critics long accused him of excessive force in handling protests and of politically motivated policing. Human rights organisations had repeatedly flagged his name in reports concerning arbitrary arrests and violent crackdowns. Yet within police circles, he was regarded as both ambitious and untouchable.
The May 9 attack changed that trajectory. Though initially shielded from serious inquiry, pressure from civil society, international watchdogs, and even elements within Sri Lanka’s own legal establishment forced the Attorney General to name him a suspect in 2023.
The arrest and remanding of a former IGP is not merely a matter of law enforcement; it is profoundly political.
Sri Lanka is still reeling from the aftershocks of the Aragalaya. While the Rajapaksa family was forced from office, many believe the deep structures of impunity remain intact. The perception that senior police and military officers acted hand-in-glove with political leaders to suppress dissent continues to haunt the government.
By pursuing Tennakoon, the CID and the judiciary appear to be signalling a willingness — at least symbolically — to break with that legacy. Yet scepticism abounds.
“Unless this case leads to a genuine chain of accountability, up to the political masterminds who unleashed the mobs, it will be nothing more than theatre,” one Colombo-based constitutional lawyer told media.
The Galle Face attacks are now widely seen as the defining moment that delegitimised the Rajapaksa regime. Within days of the violence, counter-protests swelled. Government buildings were besieged, curfews defied, and eventually the once-mighty president fled the country.
For ordinary Sri Lankans, however, accountability has been elusive. Hundreds were injured on May 9, yet only a handful of minor perpetrators have been punished. The masterminds — the organisers, financiers, and those in positions of command responsibility — have largely escaped scrutiny.
The Tennakoon case may change that. By framing his actions not as an omission but as a deliberate obstruction of police intervention, the CID is opening the door to a broader doctrine of “command responsibility” within Sri Lankan law enforcement.
The case is also being closely watched abroad. Both the United Nations and international human rights groups had called for accountability over the May 9 crackdown. Western governments, including the UK and US, had privately warned Colombo that impunity for security forces would undermine investor confidence and jeopardise future trade concessions.
With Sri Lanka desperately seeking debt restructuring and IMF assistance, the government has every incentive to demonstrate at least the semblance of judicial independence.
“Putting a former police chief behind bars, even temporarily, makes good optics,” noted a senior diplomat in Colombo. “The real test will be whether prosecutions extend beyond one man.”
Tennakoon will remain in remand until August 27, during which time the CID is expected to question additional witnesses and secure further documentation. It remains to be seen whether the Attorney General will move toward indictment or whether political considerations will dilute the case.
Either way, the spectacle of a once-feared police strongman standing in the dock has already sent ripples through the ranks of Sri Lanka’s security establishment. For officers long accustomed to immunity, it is a reminder that public patience for impunity has worn thin.
The remanding of Deshbandu Tennakoon represents more than the fate of one disgraced officer. It is a litmus test for Sri Lanka’s fragile democratic institutions. Can a state that has long shielded its enforcers finally hold them to account?
The answer will determine not only justice for the victims of May 9, but also whether Sri Lanka can rebuild trust between its people and the forces sworn to protect them.
For now, the former police chief sits in a cell — a symbol of both a rare step toward accountability and the unfinished business of a nation still struggling to escape the shadows of impunity.
-By LeN Political Correspondent
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by (2025-08-21 20:09:14)
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