Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage today criticised the police on their definition of ‘minimum force’ and said minimum force did not mean assaulting someone till his or her eyes popped out.

He advised the police to be more responsible and restrained when handling situations such as students’ protests.

The Magistrate expressed these views when the police said it had used ‘minimum force’ in the arrest of 13 students belonging to the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) during a protest rally on Friday.

The police arrested 13 protesters on charges of obstructing police officers from arresting a student who had allegedly violated a court order.

Nine of the students were produced in the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court and were released on two sureties of Rs.100,000 each while four of the students who were injured were admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.  (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)






Pix by Kithsiri De Mel