Army personnel assaulting a civilian : Actions underway against the responsible – Army

A formal investigation into the incident of an Army officer assaulting and threatening a hotel owner in Miriswatta area in Gampaha, will be carried out and actions will be taken against the officers responsible for it, the Army states.

A press release issued by Colonel H.T.W. Vidyananda (Additional) instead of the Director of Mass Media, on behalf of the Army, stated that the Army does not approve such incidents. The Colonel further stated that a full investigation is underway and that it is clear from the preliminary investigations that both parties were involved in the incident.

A video posted on Facebook last night (11) revealed that Lieutenant Sidath Indika, an Army officer who had arrived in an Army jeep numbered 49421, had assaulted and threatened a hotel owner. The hotel owner has lodged a complaint with the police. The video has been removed from Facebook. Army Commander Shavendra Silva has requested that the video be removed, news websites reported.

Our attempt to contact Army Commander Shavendra Silva to inquire whether such an intervention had taken place was unsuccessful as the officer who answered the phone stated that the Commander was in a discussion and could not answer the phone at that moment.

When inquired about this, Army Media Director Brigadier Nilantha Premaratne stated that the Army Commander has not exerted any kind of pressure as the media reports.