A 29-year-old resident of Colombo was acquitted on March 20 after being wrongfully charged in a 2024 traffic collision involving two officers who are attached to the traffic branch of Borella police.
The incident occurred on Jan. 15, 2024, when a traffic division officer and a female officer, both riding a motorcycle at high speed, collided with another motorcycle at the intersection of Baseline Road and Lesley Ranagala Mawatha, in Colombo.
The second motorcycle, carrying a 29-year-old man and his 67-year-old mother, crashed, leaving the mother hospitalized with a fractured arm.
Without conducting a proper investigation, Borella Police who had reportedly acted in favour of the officers, had at the time proceeded to arrest the son and produced him before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court (Case No. 88384/7/24) charging him of causing an accident resulting in injury.
He was also asked to pay Rs. 20,000 in compensation. Soon after the Police pressured man to conclude the case without going into trial.
Challenging the charges, the defendant and his lawyers had sought CCTV footage from nearby cameras, which had not initially been obtained and produced before the court by the Police. It is believed that this was deliberate as the footage clearly indicated that the accused was wrongfully charged. The court later ordered the footage to be submitted.
During the trial, the two officers involved had provided statements that contradicted both the CCTV footage and their original statements recorded at the time of the incident.
Attorneys Bhanuka Malaviarachchi and Malka Denetthi appearing for the defendant had cross-examined the officers, noting the discrepancies in their testimonies.
Citing insufficient evidence and conflicting the officers’ behaviour and witness statements, Colombo Additional Magistrate I. N. Rizwan halted the trial and dismissed the case under Section 186 (proviso) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Attorney Malka Denetti, representing the accused, discussed the injustices his client faced throughout the case. Following this, the magistrate recommended legal action against the officers involved.
Although justice was delivered in this case, the police have yet to take any action to support the actual victims—the son and his mother, the Attorneys representing the defendant said.
No steps have been taken to file a case against the traffic police officer who allegedly violated traffic laws and caused the accident. They also urged the public to pursue accountability from those in power rather than accepting the situation as it stands. (Newswire)
