By

Shamindra Ferdinando

Brigadier Anura Deshapriya Gunawardene was arrested yesterday for allegedly ordering troops in 2013 to open fire on a group of people protesting against the contamination of their wells at Rathupaswela.

The infantryman was produced before Gampaha Chief Magistrate D.A. Ruwanpathirana and remanded til May 31.

In March 2017, three soldiers were arrested for shooting civilians. Three persons succumbed to their injuries.

Police said that the CID had taken the Brigadier into custody. Army headquarters sources said that Gunawardene, Deputy Director, Infantry, had been taken into custody when he reported to CID as requested to make a statement.

Those arrested in March have been remanded pending investigations.

The army intervened in the wake of local police failing to bring the situation under control. At the time of the incident, Gunawardena was one of the Brigade Commanders based in Colombo

Courtesy:The Island