Police have arrested 102 out of around 139 inmates who had escaped from the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre last evening (11).
The Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi stated that the police and the army personnel are continuing joint operations in search of 37 more escapees.
“There was a commotion between two groups at the Kandakadu rehabilitation center last evening. The people who are detained here have been addicted to drugs for so long and were sent here for rehabilitation by way of court orders. However, during this disturbance, some had escaped from the rehabilitation center.
“The first incident happened around 5.00 p.m. After that, another group of inmates had escaped. There were 484 inmates in total at the rehabilitation center. We, the army troops and police, are conducting search operations to arrest them,” he added.
He revealed that the inmates have divided themselves into cliques based on their hometowns such as Negombo, Colombo and Galle, adding that each group has made certain attempts to establish their control inside the rehabilitation center.
Nevertheless, local residents mentioned that there have been reports of clashes and breakouts at the rehabilitation center from time to time due to various problems faced by the inmates.
