President instructs Police officers to act without fear

• Says to discharge duties while in compliance with the law

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has urged law enforcement officers to carry out their duties without any fear or favour, but their actions should strictly be in compliance with the law. 

He said that any arrests should be carried out only when absolutely necessary and in strict compliance of the law.

As arrest is not part of the punishment and results in the serious deprivation of liberty of citizens and other significant implications, such as loss of reputation and standing in society, arrests to be carried out only when absolutely necessary and upon a decision taken with utmost care and in strict compliance of the law, President Rajapaksa instructed Acting Inspector General of Police Senior DIG C. D. Wickramaratne.

The President also directed the Police to ensure that arrests need to be made entirely based on professional judgment.

Due respect should be given by officers discharging such duties to the Members of Parliament as representatives of the people and professionals such as doctors.

The Police was further directed by the President to apply the same equally to all citizens of Sri Lanka without any discrimination whatsoever, and under no circumstance should such duties be carried out for extraneous purposes. Any undue influence should not be tolerated.