Police probe social media video of youth accusing cops of planting cannabis

Colombo, July 24 (Daily Mirror) - The police launched an investigation into an incident where a video went viral on social media showing a group of youth accusing police officers on road duty of planting cannabis in a car.

When the Daily Mirror inquired about the incident, Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said that the incident occurred at Kollupitiya on Wednesday morning when a group of police officers on road duty was checking a car.

He said the police officers stopped a car that had arrived from the Grandpass area with a group of about five men. During the search, they found several substances resembling cannabis seeds on the car seat. When the officers questioned the youth about the seeds, the youth behaved in an unruly manner, accusing the police of planting the seeds in the car.

In the video, the youth alleged that the police officers tried to place cannabis inside the car to extort money after seeing a sum of cash in the car.

However, DIG Thalduwa denied the allegation and said the officers at the scene were at fault for allowing the men in the car to behave unruly. He said that shortly after the incident, a senior officer arrived at the scene, settled the matter and allowed the men in the car to leave.

The spokesman said that an investigation has been launched under an Assistant Superintendent of Police over the release of the video on social media and the misleading of the public over a matter that had been settled.