(COLOMBO) – Two persons were killed on the spot and a third escaped after police opened fire on a speeding tuk tuk at Millawa in Moragahahena some 33 kilometres south of the Sri Lankan commercial capital of Colombo, police said on Tuesday.
Police claim that the tuk tuk had earlier defied a halt order and instead the occupants had opened fire on officers resulting in a vehicle chase and the subsequent fatal shooting.
A third person, according to police had fled the vehicle into a nearby wooded area and was currently on the run.
Police also claim to have recovered a hand gun from the tuk tuk.
The Sri Lankan Police has come under heavy criticism from both local and international human rights groups, the legal fraternity and many others for alleged excesses and custodial deaths since the start of this year.
In the most recent case a testicle of a young man had to be surgically removed after allegedly being beaten by police officers over a traffic rage incident.
Sri Lanka’s highest legal fraternity the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said in a statement that the incident was particularly alarming and raised the chilling specter of the country’s descent into a police state.
“Such reprehensible acts not only contravene the fundamental principles of justice and human rights but also violate international instruments such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, it said.
