* 07 water canons, 09 riot police units, roadblocks manned by tri-forces and STF
* Police surveillance teams and camera units to film demonstrations
* Intelligence via SIS, special police WhatsApp Group RoadBlock/Col.Central
Extensive security plans and protocols to protect President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the wake of massive public demonstrations planned for Saturday morning in the capital Colombo have been leaked, revealing sinister orders to police filming units and surveillance teams to record and monitor leaders of the aragalaya and the intelligence networks that will be operational in the area during the protest.
The orders dated July 7, 2022 have gone out to all DIGS, SSPs, SPs and ASPs and police divisions, signed by SSP Nishantha Chandrasekera (Colombo Central Division).
SSP Chandrasekera’s preamble states that the main objective of the deployment of a massive security contingent and riot control operations is “to ensure the safety of His Excellency the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and to take necessary precautions in this regard.”
Secondary to this goal is the police intention to prevent damage to government buildings and public property.
The leaked document also makes clear that the Police Department fully anticipated the issuing of court orders that would have enabled security forces to set up at least six new roadblocks that would prevent the entry of demonstrators into the entire Colombo Fort area. However, on Thursday (7) the Fort Magistrate refused to issue orders preventing the protests.
Chandrasekera’s deployment plan reveals that film crews attached to the Crime Record Division will be mobilised at Saturday’s demonstration. The film crews will be assisted by special surveillance teams deployed around the agitation sites, the document shows.
SSP Chandrasekera orders all of his officers to stay tuned into a Whatsapp Group titled RoadBlock/Col.Central for intelligence reports. He also provides a list of telephone numbers for various intelligence commanders who will be in charge of intel delivery to police on duty in the Fort area on Saturday (9).
The leaked police documents identify “potential threats” as follows:
1. Protests, rallies and disruptive activities that could cause inconvenience to the President and the Government.
2. Rallies and demonstrations held to fulfill narrow political agendas.
3. Activities by extremist groups
4. Illegal activities by protestors at the protest site
5. Arson attacks, damage to property
6. Obstruction of roads and pavements
7. Obstruction of police personnel on duty
8. Provocative actions during peaceful protest
To serve our readers and for the safety of those who will participate in the protests on Saturday, Colombo Telegraph translated the salient sections of SSP Chandrasekera’s deployment orders. That translation follows below.
The original in the Sinhala language is also available in PDF here.
7 July 2022
To: All Senior Superintendents of Police, Superintendents of police and Assistant Superintendents of Police, All Officers in Charge of police stations, regional police divisions
Operational orders concerning 8-9 July protests
PREAMBLE
Social media communications reveal that a massive demonstration calling efor the removal of His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been organised by individuals including apolitical protestors at Galle Face, numerous organisations and political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations, university students, lawyers and religious leaders of all faiths. The demonstration will seek to obstruct the access to the President’s House.
Therefore a special security plan is in place in the Colombo Fort area.
Senior security officials have instructed that human and material police resources are placed in areas where apolitical activists are expected to congregate in order to prevent clashes and unexpected developments.
Objective of our deployment
The main objective is to ensure the safety of His Excellency the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and to take necessary precautions in this regard.
In addition, it seeks to prevent the unauthorised entry of protestors into government offices, the obstruction of work inside government offices and damage to public property etc, illegal activities and obstruction of police personnel on duty and disturbance the peace.
Potential threats
1. Protests, rallies and disruptive activities that could cause inconvenience to the President and the Government.
2. Rallies and demonstrations held to fulfill narrow political agendas.
3. Activities by extremist groups
4. Illegal activities by protestors at the protest site
5. Arson attacks, damage to property
6. Obstruction of roads and pavements
7. Obstruction of police personnel on duty
8. Provocative actions during peaceful protest
DEPLOYMENT PLANS
* Additional roadblocks to be established with Special Task Force (STF) and tri-forces security forces personnel in the following places:
* Ceramic Junction at the top of York Street
* Junction between Olcott Street and Lower Chatham Street
* Baron Jayatillake Street between building and York Street
* The Junction between York Street and Lead (sic) Bastian Street
NOTE:
* Under no circumstances should protestors be permitted to move beyond these roadblocks
Tear gas and gas masks supplies for roadblocks to be obtained from the Fort and Slave Island Police Stations. Senior officers in charge of each roadblock to obtain supplies as necessary.
Dispersing crowds
Rioters should be dispersed using anti-riot gear and water canons using proportionate force.
The sequence of force to be used to disperse protestors is as follows:
1. Use loudspeakers and demand protestors disperse
2. Permit sufficient time for protestors to disperse
3. Identify protest leaders and explain matters
4. Permit more time to disperse
5. Use water canons to disperse crowds
6. Permit time to disperse
7. Advise protestors to disperse again and then use tear gas and water canons
8. Permit time to disperse
9. If protestors respond violently use baton charge below the knees
LEGAL ACTION
* The officer in charge of Fort Police, under instructions of DIG Rohan Premaratne should take legal action to obtain injunction orders from the court to prevent the protest.
* Take necessary action to inform protestors using loudspeakers about the court order and publicise the orders of the court once obtained in the media. (Court rejected the police application).
* Subsequent to obtaining court order, the following roadblocks to be set up – Each Roadblock will have one DIG and one SSP in charge.
POSITIONS OF WATER CANONS AND RIOT POLICE UNITS
* 9 units of riot police to be deployed in the following places:
* One per roadblock
* 07 water canons – one per roadblock and one inside the security perimeter.
FILMING & SURVEILLANCE
* Make arrangements to deploy the crime record division’s camera units to provide full coverage of the entire demonstration.
* Surveillance teams to gather information required for camera teams and to inform ASP Dias through mobile telephone 0701209623 and coordinate the recording of the demonstrations.
Coordination of army personnel near President’s House: Major General Udaya Herath: 0766907026
Coordination of army personnel in Western Province: Brigadier Anil Somaweera: 0766907175
Coordination of the navy and obtaining water canons: Rear Admiral Ponnamperuma: 0763578363
Coordination of Sri Lanka Air Force (Western Province): Group Captain M Seneviratne: 0760550683
Coordination with Special Task Force: SSP Nishedha / SSP Roy Sumanawardhane / SSP Pandiwita
INTELLIGENCE
All officers are instructed to focus on intelligence relayed through the Whatsapp Group [ROADBLOCK/Col.Central] and provided through the following persons:
Western Province Intelligence: SSP Pushpakumara – Tel : 0718591980
Special Branch: SSP Jagath Vishantha – Tel: 0718592066
State Intelligence: ASP Harsha Amarasinghe – Tel: 0713682959
Divisional Intelligence: OIC IP Sahan – Tel : 0713822840
COMMUNICATIONS
USE FREQUENCY NO 5 for support services and communication between officers within the division
USE FREQUENCE NO 2 for issues regarding vehicle movements
JOINT OPERATIONS CENTER – Inside the Chartered Building
Presidential Security Division: 011 4354150
STF: 011 4354151
Army: 011 4354154
Inspector of Police Wijesinghe: 0718564169 (daytime duty)
Sub Inspector of Police: 0713811548 (night duty)
Signed:
Nishantha Chandrasekera
SSP
Colombo Central Division
deepthi silva / July 10, 2022
Well all this failed, the people are stronger.
I am not justifying the burning of Ranil’s house. But this guy Ranil was ridiculing the whole nation. Having lost the election very badly he became a MP and then PM. If he had any conscience he would have declared that he had no mandate.
Ranil has pretended to be a know all for along time. When there were intelligent people around like JR, Lalith, Felix Dias, NM Perera he could not pretend this.
Now the UNP is full of unsophisticated guys who are pretending to be sophisticated but in their minds they are village peasants or Mudalalis. That was the ranil power base in the UNP, lumpen element.
The Bond scam showed ranil for what he is.
Ranil tragicomedy is over
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Dinuk / July 10, 2022
Foreign powers who want to control Sri Lanka clearly control the port and airport and parts of the military . India’s NDTV said that Gotabaya and his US citizen family were at the Military Headquarters and protected by them.
Meanwhile BOND scam Ranil a US puppet, who hired Lazard and Clifford for the IMF negotiations and had set the scene for Sri Lanka’s US-based ISB Debt Trap by masterminding the Central Bank Bondscam and opening the door for Odious debt and reckless borrowing by all government, and helped staged the Defaullt with US citizen Basil to enable the Washington Consensus to take over Sri Lanka’s economic and foreign policy is waiting to sell the country to IMF and the Vulture Funds that it is bailing out.
Sri Lankan professionals, lawyers and accounting companies should protest against foreign firms Lazard writing Reports for Sri lanka!
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Mallaiyuran / July 10, 2022
There was concern within all color and hue of people, in this peaceful, exemplary protest as a big stain, a house in Kollupitiya was set on fire. My first thought was somebody madly over reacted for the attack on journalists, earlier in that day. But now the news is coming out. Marvelous Jaffna Library was set to fire by JR, and his Sinhala Buddhists acolytes because of its contents. The contents therein was establishing an overwhelming history of Tamils in Ceylon. The library was set on fire to get rid of that material. Now it is said that this house too had a wealth of materials, of rare origin. Private jealousy of that collection was the reason to set fire to the house. I wish somebody would take interest to prove the real reason for the fire and clear the innocent protesters from this heinous crime.
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Ajith / July 10, 2022
“Security Deployment Plans To Obstruct July 9 Protests “
Its clearly shows that the culture of Police is to protect the powerful dictator President Gotabaya’s family and not to protect the people of this country. This culture has to be changed immediately.
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leelagemalli / July 10, 2022
I am not into ANY form of assasinations in general. At the time, FM LK was assasinated, I thought, how brutal the world should be. The same was after hearing the murder of Lalith athulathmudali. Srialnka was then a paradise for killers.
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However, our country could have profited on it, if MaRa was caught by such an assasination or a sudden death because he is the key man to have ruined srilanken society and the economy. Bastard played with the gullible mind set of the innocient people
His power greediness and affinity to high crimes incl. various kind of money laundering acts led to bankrupsy of this country. Experts warned, but stupid people never understood his selfishness. Had ballige putha resigned from Politics in 2015, things woudl not have reached to this levels. The kind of men deserve to be executed comforting the masses as today.
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In a coutnry where such assasnations are rare – Japan is said to have killed the architect of ABENOMICs. Under “Abenomics”, Abe, who was shot dead during an election campaign event on Friday, sought to jolt Japan’s economy back to life after more than two decades of stagnation following the collapse of an asset bubble in the early 1990s
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIcp7Svh30
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