All four Sri Lanka Army personnel who had been indicted on charges of shooting dead three persons and injuring 45 others during a protest by villagers demanding clean drinking water in Rathupaswala in 2013 were today acquitted by the Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar.
Delivering its verdict, the three-judge High Court ordered the acquittal and release of all four accused – a Major and three Army soldiers.
The incident occurred on August 1, 2013, when army personnel opened fire on a protest by villagers in Weliweriya. The villagers were protesting against a factory which they said was contaminating groundwater in their area and were demanding clean drinking water.
(sundaytimes.lk)
