Lanka Suspect Narcotics Dealers and Rival Criminal Gangs Are Behind Prison Riots That Killed Three Inmates and Injured 23 Others at Multiple

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament on Friday that one prisoner was killed late Thursday when 40 inmates broke out of their cells at New Magazine Prison in Colombo, the capital. Two more prisoners died Friday morning during a second riot at Kuruwita prison, about 80km (50 miles) from the capital. Between the two incidents, 23 inmates were injured and hospitalized, Wijepala said, adding that police and special forces brought both riots under control.

Police also fired tear gas at protesting inmates at an open prison in Negombo, a coastal town about 40km (25 miles) from Colombo, to quell the situation there on Friday. Riot police at all three prisons worked to return prisoners who had climbed onto rooftops or moved into open areas back to their wards. Wijepala said the government is investigating whether the riots were coordinated.

"When you take all these incidents together, it appears that there is planning behind these and an attempt at sabotage. But we can only say anything further after a comprehensive investigation, he said. The disturbances came a month after 10 prison officials and 20 prisoners died in two days of fighting at a prison in Negombo.

One inmate also died and several others were injured in a riot last weekend at a prison in Mahara, about 14km (8.6 miles) from Colombo. Overcrowding in Sri Lanka's prisons is at crisis levels, with more than 39,000 inmates crowded into a system with a total capacity of just 10,000, according to a recent speech in parliament by Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara. "The number of prisoners in Sri Lanka today is four times the capacity, said Senaka Perera, president of the Committee for Rights of Prisoners.

In fact, they have been patient for so long. A large number of inmates are suspects awaiting trial for alleged narcotics-related offences, and recent laws tightening bail conditions have resulted in overcrowding, Perera said. Sri Lanka is planning to amend its constitution to extend superior court judges' tenure by two years, as part of efforts to clear a backlog of more than one million court cases and reduce prisoner numbers.