News

Congestion in some prisons, up by 300% – 400%!

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2023

editor

It has been revealed that congestion in prisons has increased up to 259 percent.

The revelation was made during a meeting of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) held on June 09.

Speaking, Commissioner General of Prisons – Thushara Upuldeniya has said in some prisons congestion has increased to 300% – 400%.

Secretary of the Justice Ministry – Wasantha Perera has also stated that the total number of prison inmates are 26,791 despite all the prisons in the country being capable of accommodating only 11,762 inmates.

Prisons Commissioner Thushara Upuldeniya has said 17,502 inmates are remand prisoners while 9,289 are convicted prisoners.

It has also been revealed that 1,309 inmates were languishing in prisons while being unable to pay fines imposed by courts.

News

Former Eastern Provincial Council member arrested

Published

8 hours ago

July 6, 2025

editor

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.

News

e-Revenue Licence system down due to technical glitch, ICTA says

Published

8 hours ago

July 6, 2025

editor

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.