Special unit set up to prevent riots at prisons: Commissioner

By Chamil Rupasinghe 

A special unit affiliated to the Prisons Intelligence Unit will be set up in order to protect special categories of prisoners and to quell riots in prisons, Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya said. 

He told a media briefing that under the direction of the president, about 500 retired army personnel who have completed 12 years’ service would be recruited immediately to fill the staff shortage in the Special Unit to be established with the aim of suppressing prison riots, protecting special inmates and preventing smuggling of narcotics into prisons. 

He said that with the training of the Army, they would be able to be deployed after a short training period.