Minister of Justice and Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara says the unrest that erupted at Mahara Prison yesterday (01) was fundamentally different from the recent incident reported at Negombo Prison.
Speaking on the matter, the Minister explained that while the Negombo Prison incident involved a clash between two groups of inmates, the disturbance at Mahara Prison was a confrontation between inmates and prison authorities.
According to the Minister, the unrest was primarily triggered by efforts to completely prevent the smuggling of illegal drugs into the prison, with a group of drug-dependent inmates allegedly at the centre of the disturbance.
He further revealed that inmates attempted to escape from the prison through several locations during the night, but prison authorities successfully prevented all escape attempts.
To maintain security and restore order, the Police Special Task Force (STF) has been deployed to the prison, the Minister said.
