In the first inspector general’s impeachment in Sri Lanka, the country’s parliament approved firing the police chief for misconduct and gross abuse of power.
Deshabandu Tennakoon, who was accused of sending a team of armed officers to a failed raid in Weligama in 2023 that resulted in the death of an officer, was sacked by the legislature on Tuesday.
One member abstained, while no one else voted against his removal. Tennakoon was found guilty of 19 counts of misconduct and abuse of power after a committee appointed by the parliament opened an investigation into the allegations against him and released a report last month.
The committee determined that he had “pearheaded the dreadful, illegal act of shooting” at the W15 hotel in Weligama when a Tennakoon team opened fire on a team that had been sent there to intimidate the hotel’s owner.
The police chief, who oversaw a force of 85, 000 officers, was reportedly running a “criminal network” and unfit to serve, even in the lowest ranks, according to a state prosecutor.
Tennakoon has not responded since the impeachment hearing started last month. The 54-year-old is the island’s first police chief to be fired in its history.
Despite protests from opposition lawmakers and civil rights activists who claimed he was ineligible for the position, he was appointed police chief by then-President Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2023.
The highest court in Sri Lanka had decreed that the suspect had been tortured by rubbing menthol balm on his genitalia prior to his appointment.
Source: Aljazeera
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