The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the suspension of Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya, as investigations continue into the unauthorised release of inmates allegedly under the false pretext of a presidential pardon.
The move comes in the wake of a formal complaint lodged by the Presidential Secretariat, which accused prison authorities of misusing the presidential pardon process to unlawfully release certain inmates.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has since launched a full-scale inquiry into the matter.
Upuldeniya was questioned by CID officers for over 10 hours on Saturday (08), as part of the ongoing investigation.
The controversy centres around the release of an inmate from Anuradhapura Prison on Vesak Poya Day, who was not on the official list of 388 prisoners approved to receive clemency by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The inmate had reportedly been convicted of financial fraud.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Commissioner of Anuradhapura Prison was arrested by the CID on Saturday in connection with the incident.
The arrest marks the first in what is expected to be a wider crackdown on individuals involved in what authorities now suspect may be a pattern of irregular prison releases.
Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala described the matter as “serious and unacceptable,” and confirmed that there are indications of similar incidents having occurred in the past.
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