Elections Commissioner Asks For Police Protection

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has requested the Inspector General of Police to increase the security in areas where election violence has been reported, deploying the Special Task Force if necessary.

He has taken this step after taking the recent complaints about elections violence into consideration.

During the past few days, a number of elections law violations such as arson attacks on party offices and assaulting and threatening of rival supporters were reported from the Uva Province. Most complaints have come from Bibile, Badalkumbura and Viyaluwa areas.

The Elections Commissioner has advised the IGP to increase the mobile police units, attach more police officers from other areas and increase the number of personal in police complaints units.

Deshapriya has also stated that if the available funds are inadequate, he will take steps to transfer more funds for police.

The Campaign For Free and Fair Elections (CaFFe) yesterday issued a statement regarding the increase in election law violation while highlighting an incident where an armed group has opened fire on a group of JVP members who were preparing a stage.  

CaFFe yesterday urged the election authorities and policemen to take immediate steps to enforce election laws predicting that things will take a more violent turn.