Indian killed in Sri Lanka prison riot buried under police protection

An Indian national who was killed during a deadly riot at a prison in Sri Lanka’s western coastal town of Negombo in July was buried under special police protection, authorities said.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) told the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday that the burial of the 73-year-old inmate on September 2 was carried out in accordance with the court’s directive and at state expense.

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Officials of the Indian High Commission in Colombo participated in the burial, it said.

According to media reports, the victim, identified as Unnikrishnan S, was from Kerala but had been living with his family in Chennai for more than four decades.

He had arrived in Sri Lanka on March 2 and was arrested on allegations of possessing ganja. He was subsequently remanded in Negombo prison, where he was killed during the violence that broke out among inmates on July 5 and 6, the reports said.

The CID also informed Chief Magistrate Shilani Perera that the clothes and footwear worn by the victim at the time of his death have been handed over to the court for forensic examination.

The court was hearing the case against suspects in connection with the prison riot in which 22 inmates and 10 prison officials were killed and around 100 others were injured.

An identification parade for five suspects was held on Tuesday, while another 11 suspects are scheduled to undergo an identification parade on September 10, officials said.

A total of 81 suspects are expected to face trial in connection with the violence, they said.

The July riot was among the deadliest episodes of prison violence in Sri Lanka in recent years.

It was triggered by a dispute between rival groups of inmates over drugs. Severe overcrowding became a major factor that prevented authorities from containing the clashes, officials had said.