Drug smuggling inside the jail was at the centre of the deadly riot at a Sri Lankan prison that left 26 people dead and over 100 injured over the past two days.
The violence between two groups of inmates erupted over two days at the prison in the coastal town of Negombo, around 35 km north of Colombo. Authorities said the dead included 19 inmates and seven prison officials.
Also Read: 25 killed, 100 injured in clashes between two groups at prison in Sri Lanka
What caused the Sri Lanka prison riot?
Sri Lanka's justice and national integration minister Harshana Nanayakkara told the Parliament that preliminary investigations found the clash began after a group of prisoners informed prison authorities about attempts to smuggle drugs into the facility, reported news agency Reuters.
The disclosure allegedly angered another group of inmates that supported the smuggling operation, triggering the violence.
{{/usCountry}}The disclosure allegedly angered another group of inmates that supported the smuggling operation, triggering the violence.
{{/usCountry}}"When prison officials attempted to intervene it had escalated. Prisoners attacked prison officials with bricks and poles. Prison officials fired in self-defence. At the moment we are unaware of how prisoners got possession of weapons. Investigations into these details are ongoing," the minister said, according to the agency.
Nanayakkara also said a small group of inmates managed to disable CCTV cameras inside the prison during the unrest.
To ease overcrowding following the riot, authorities transferred 734 inmates to four other prisons on Tuesday morning, the Department of Prisons said.
The Negombo prison housed around 2,400 inmates despite having capacity for only about 650, according to the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners, highlighting longstanding concerns over severe overcrowding.
Dozens of police personnel and special forces were deployed to bring the situation under control on Monday, while around 100 injured inmates and prison officials received treatment at hospitals.
On Tuesday, military personnel backed by armoured vehicles remained deployed outside the prison.
Sri Lanka has witnessed deadly prison violence in the past. A riot in November 2020 left 11 inmates dead, while another prison riot in Colombo in 2012 claimed 27 lives.
(With inputs from agencies)