Sri Lanka prison riot kills inmate as troops deploy

Sri Lanka deployed hundreds of troops and Special Task Force commandos on Sunday after a riot at Mahara Prison, outside Colombo, killed one inmate and wounded six others, police said.

Deputy police inspector-general Sanjeewa Medawatte said the situation was under control after inmates destroyed several buildings inside the overcrowded prison on Saturday.

“We got reinforcements from the armed forces and the Special Task Force commandos to restore order and send the inmates back to their cells,” Medawatte told reporters outside the prison.

Medawatte said inmates had completely destroyed the prison kitchen, hospital, a newly built rehabilitation building and vocational training facilities.

Mahara Prison holds about 4,100 inmates, roughly four times its capacity, according to the police account. Overcrowding is common across Sri Lanka’s jails.

The unrest came almost a month after another prison riot in the same region killed 10 guards and 21 inmates. Authorities have announced plans to convert disused state buildings into prisons.

More than three-quarters of inmates in Sri Lanka are remand prisoners awaiting trial, and most are held in connection with drug offences. In 2020, a riot at Mahara Prison killed 11 inmates and wounded nearly 120 others.