Freelance Journalist Arrested in Abduction Style in Sri Lanka
A freelance journalist, ‘Gotagogama’ activist Anthony Veranga who was returning by bus after taking part in demonstration outside Fort Railway Station on 27 July afternoon had been forcibly taken away by an unidentified group in a blue colour jeep,which was subsequently learned after hours that he was arrested by the Police Colombo.
Veranga Pushpika had also been active as a member of the Inter University Student’s Federation and the former President of Ruhunu Maha Shishya Sangamaya.
According to an eyewitness, Veranga had got into the bus from Fort Railway Station around 1.30 pm after taking part in a protest campaign organised by the trade union collective against the present suppression by the government. The bus could move only about 50 yards when a dark blue jeep had over taken it and blocked the bus. Six persons in civil had rushed out of the vehicle and entered the bus. They had then taken Veranga by force and when associate of the latter who was in the same bus after the attending the demonstration had asked the group where they were taking him, the group
had responded that he was arrested over some weapons. The incident has been reported to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and the HRCHL had inquired from the police about such arrest to learn that the person had
been taken into custody by the Colombo South Divisional Crime Detective Bureau.
