Sri Lankan authorities are searching for their police chief, Deshabandu Tennakoon after a court ordered his arrest over a deadly raid that resulted in the killing of an officer, an official confirmed on Sunday.
Tennakoon, 53, has been missing since Friday, when a magistrate in southern Sri Lanka issued the arrest order, alleging he had directed a botched raid on December 31, 2023. A senior police officer told AFP that an attempt to apprehend him at his residence was unsuccessful, as he had already gone into hiding, leaving his bodyguards behind. The court has also imposed a foreign travel ban to prevent him from fleeing the country.
The failed operation saw a Colombo-based police unit searching a hotel in Weligama, a resort town 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of the capital, for illegal drugs. However, local officers—unaware of the undercover mission—confronted the unit, triggering a gunfight that left one officer dead and another critically injured. No drugs were found at the scene.
Tennakoon’s appointment as Inspector-General of Police in November 2023 was highly controversial, having been challenged in the Supreme Court. The court had already suspended him in July pending a hearing. Additionally, in a separate case, Sri Lanka’s highest court had previously found him guilty of torturing a suspect by applying menthol balm to the victim’s genitals. He was ordered to pay 500,000 rupees ($1,600) in damages, but the government at the time failed to take disciplinary action against him.
Now, with an arrest warrant issued, Tennakoon remains at large as police continue their search.
