COLOMBO (News 1st) – Prison Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa has been advised to obtain mandatory leave by the Department of Prisons following his arrest in connection with the Welikada prison riot.

He was arrested by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) following the investigations of the murder of inmates at the Welikada Prison in 2012.

On 9th of November in 2012, inmates took control of the prison objecting to an unannounced search by the Special Task Force looking for hidden arms, drugs and mobile phones at the prison. During this incident, twenty-seven inmates were killed and more than 20 were injured due to a shooting. Emil Ranjan Lamahewa was the Prisons Superintendent in charge of the Magazine Prison in Welikada during the riot in 2012.