Police Dept. in trouble over removing posters and cutouts

By Gayan Kumara Weerasingha

Local politicians have influenced police calling for transfers of police officers who were adhering to the election law and were removing cutouts and posters of the presidential candidates.
Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa has also ordered the police to remove all cutouts and banners of him erected by some SLFP organizers around the country.
But the police were facing immense difficulty in adhering to the law since politicians responsible for erecting these cutouts were preventing them from bringing them down.
Because of the threats of local politicians labourers were not prepared to remove posters and cutouts, said a senior official from police headquarters.
A police source said that SP J.R Jayawardana, formerly in charge of the Ampara division was suddenly transferred to Killinochchi with effect from January 01. He was known to be an officer who adhered to election laws.
However, IGP Mahinda Balasuriya said that an experienced and efficient police officer was required for the new police division in Killinochchi and SP Jayawardana was transferred to Killinochchi to fill that vacancy.
The elections commissioner issued a written order to the IGP on January 01 asking him to cancel Jayawardane’s transfer.