Two senior child protection officers were arrested over a child cruelty case in Anuradhapura.
Anuradhapura police had initiated an investigation on a complaint lodged with the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) after a TV channel had exposed the case in 2021, involving a 17-year-old girl at an orphanage in Anuradhapura.
Based on the complaint, officers at the Anuradhapura Police Station recorded the statements of the girls residing in the children’s home and officers attached to the North Central Provincial Probation and Child Protection Services Department and conducted investigations.
Based on the information revealed there, the advice of the Attorney General had been sought on legal action to be taken against the governing authority of the North Central Provincial Probation and Childcare Services Department regarding the cruelty inflicted on the 17-year-old girl, who was detained at a counseling center on court orders, by employing her as a cook in a children’s home.
The suspects – a 49 year old male from Wariyapola and a 57 year old female from Anuradhapura, were arrested after appearing before the police and was subsequently granted bail after being produced before the Anuradhapura Magistrate Court.
Ampara District Organizer of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party and former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniya Bharathi has been arrested.
He was arrested over the abduction and disappearance of the former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. Subramaniyam Ravindranath.
Sivanathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and former State Minister, was arrested by the Colombo Criminal Investigation Department at his office in Batticaloa on April 8, over this incident.
He was later detained for 3 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Iniya Bharathi, also known as Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, was arrested based on information revealed during the interrogation of Pillayan.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the electronic Revenue Licence system (eRL 2.0) is currently unavailable due to a critical technical infrastructure issue.
According to the ICTA, the disruption began on July 3, 2025, and has made vehicle revenue licence issuing services inaccessible.
The unavailability is expected to continue until July 9, 2025.
The ICTA expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the public and assured that technical teams are working urgently to resolve the issue.
The agency also said that further updates will be shared as work progresses, with an official notice to be issued once services are restored.