Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser and MP Namal Rajapaksa has strongly criticised the Inspector General of Police (IGP), questioning whether he should feel ashamed to serve a government whose Members of Parliament are allegedly attacking police officers on the streets.
Speaking to the media about an incident in which National People’s Power (NPP) Ratnapura District MP Shantha Padmakumara is accused of assaulting a police officer, Rajapaksa claimed that the current IGP is acting not as the country’s police chief, but as the “IGP of the Malima government.”
He said such incidents have created an environment in which police officers are reluctant to perform their duties independently, fearing political pressure and possible reprisals.
Rajapaksa further alleged that MPs who once accused the Rajapaksa family of involvement in drug-related activities are now themselves linked to cannabis cultivation. He claimed that police officers who raided a cannabis plantation allegedly owned by a Malima government MP have since faced harassment, including the transfer of an officer involved in the raid.
According to Rajapaksa, the same MP later assaulted another police officer on the road following the raid. He also accused the government of interfering with investigations into a car accident involving former Speaker Ashoka Ranwala by transferring officers who were handling the inquiry.
The SLPP MP alleged that political influence is being used to undermine law enforcement and questioned the conduct of the IGP for remaining silent in the face of these incidents.
