KABUL (Pajhwok): Three prisoners have been killed and 23 others injured in separate clashes at two prisons in Sri Lanka, officials said.
Reuters reported that Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament on Friday that one prisoner was killed and 10 others injured in a riot at Colombo Magazine Prison late Thursday.
He said two prisoners were killed and 13 others injured in a separate incident at Kuruwita Prison, about 80 kilometres from the capital, Colombo.
Wijepala said police and special forces had brought both incidents under control.
Police sources told Reuters that unrest also broke out at Pallansena Correctional Centre, about 40 kilometres from Colombo, where police used tear gas to disperse protesting inmates. No casualties were immediately reported from the incident.
Police and riot-control units were deployed at the affected prisons, while inmates who had climbed onto rooftops or moved into open areas were returned to their designated sections.
The public security minister said the situation was under control and there was no security threat.
He added that preliminary investigations indicated the incidents may have involved planning and attempts at “sabotage.”
Wijepala said a comprehensive investigation would be conducted into the incidents.
The latest clashes come amid severe overcrowding in Sri Lanka’s prison system. More than 39,000 inmates are held in prisons across the country, according to figures cited by officials, far exceeding the system’s capacity.
The incidents follow a deadly clash at Negombo Prison in July, in which 26 people, including seven prison officers, were killed.
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