Record 1411 quarantine law-breakers arrested in 24-hours

COLOMBO (News 1st): Sri Lanka Police arrested a record 1,411 people for the violation of quarantine regulations such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distances in a 24-hour window that ended on Wednesday morning (Jun. 16). "This is the highest number of quarantine law-breakers arrested in a single day, since the quarantine operations were launched since the 18th of March 2020," Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana told News 1st. Of those arrested on Tuesday (Jun. 15), 158 were arrested in Kuliyapitiya, 146 were arrested in the Matale police division, and 127 were arrested in the Kandy division. According to DIG Ajith Rohana, 35,360 people have so far been arrested for the violation of quarantine regulations since the 30th of October last year. Approximately, 34,000 cases have been filed against those arrested for quarantine law violations. The Deputy Police Chief noted that in the event those detected in violation of quarantine rules fail to be present in court when informed, warrants will be issued against them. "They would be noticed to the courts in the future. A bail bond has been signed by them. Therefore, their presence in court is compulsory. If they are unable to attend the court proceedings on a given date, the court would issue a warrant against them," DIG Ajith Rohana pointed out. Moreover, four suspects were arrested during a Special Drone operation conducted in the Negombo area on Tuesday (Jun. 15), for the violation of quarantine rules. Accordingly, 131 suspects in total have been arrested during Drone Operations conducted in the Western Province. The Deputy Police Chief also added that 6,066 people were inspected at 14 checkpoints located at the Exit and Entry points of the Western Province; 74 people who were trying to cross the provincial borders in violation of the inter-provincial travel restriction, were turned away. The island-wide travel restriction is set to be lifted on Monday, the 21st of June.