Although eradicating drugs from a country is an essential matter, destroying the lives of innocent citizens by imprisoning them on fabricated charges in the name of drug suppression can in no way be condoned.
One of the most serious tragedies we see today is the misuse of the law by certain corrupt police officers to settle personal vendettas and to terrorize the public. The extent to which this has spread is such that, according to a study by the Right to Life Human Rights Centre, nearly 30 per cent of filed cases are revealed to be based on false charges.
In particular, Section 54 of the Poisons, Opium, and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (PODDO) has become a powerful weapon for hunting down the innocent. The story of Dulanjali from Wannihalambawewa in the Anuradhapura district, who fell victim to the island-wide injustice of fabricated cases, is powerful evidence capable of opening society’s eyes to this issue.
Section 54 of this Act has already become a protective shield for corrupt officers today. As soon as a drug-trafficking charge is filed against an individual, the Magistrate’s Court completely loses the power to grant bail to that suspect. When more than 10 grams of drugs are produced, a victim must go to the Court of Appeal to obtain bail. Furthermore, cases are postponed repeatedly due to severe delays in receiving Government Analyst’s reports regarding drugs or other fabricated substances presented by the police. The tragic consequence of this is that even innocent citizens have to suffer inhumanely in remand custody for months or even years.
This is not merely a theoretical legal argument. It is a practical terror that darkens the futures of real people—a powerful tool of state criminality. The injustice faced by Dulanjali Abeyrathne, a mother of four residing in Wannihalambawewa in the Oyamaduwa Police jurisdiction of Anuradhapura, is a prime example of this.
What this family had to experience on the night of 23 July 2025 was one of the darkest experiences of state terrorism. Merely for resisting the police attempt to unjustly arrest her brother on a warrant that had been cancelled, due to police inefficiency, she and her family members were brutally assaulted by officers, including the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Oyamaduwa Police.
Dinesh Bandara
‘At that time, the OIC threw my wife to the ground, trampled her, and assaulted her in a very inhumane manner. He assaulted not only me and my older brother, but also my 74-year-old father’, says Dulanjali’s husband, Dinesh Bandara. The police, who even turned away the 1990 ambulance that arrived to hospitalize the father who fell ill from the assault, arrested all four family members and produced them before the court the next day. There, although the male family members were granted bail for the charge of obstructing duties, Dulanjali was remanded under Section 54, having been framed on false charges of possessing 10 grams and 200 milligrams of heroin. When asked why such an injustice was done to her, the OIC had given a highly brutal reply: ‘Your woman’s mouth is a bit too much; she will be fine once she spends about a year like that’.
Dulanjal’s Farther
This arbitrary conduct of the Oyamaduwa Police is not limited to Dulanjali. The corrupt power of the police is clearly evident from the fact that a neighbour of theirs, who provided evidence against this illegal act by the police, was also remanded under Section 54 with false drug charges filed against them. In addition, an innocent grandfather who questioned the police when they came looking for his grandson, who had returned from a musical concert, was also assaulted and remanded for over two months under Section 54. Similarly, an individual named Jeewan Kumarasiri in the same area has also been remanded after being falsely accused of possessing 11 grams and 200 milligrams of heroin.
Residents accuse the OIC of the Oyamaduwa Police of publicly stating, ‘I will put you inside and fix you’, while filing false charges under Section 54, and that he commits these injustices under the protection of political authorities.
The true victims of this inhumane state repression are the children. Because the mother has been imprisoned in remand for 11 months, the schooling of her two young children, aged six and eight, has completely stopped. Since the father has to maintain the family by doing daily-wage labour, the family has become so utterly helpless that their eldest daughter has also had to put aside her schooling and go to do wage labour with her father.
We strongly condemn these inhumane acts and the culture of filing fabricated cases. Police officers should protect the law, not take revenge on the public by utilizing loopholes in the law. Existing legal provisions must be immediately reviewed to prevent the imprisonment of the innocent.
Furthermore, systemic rebuilding must be done immediately by establishing a mechanism to expedite Government Analyst’s reports. Similarly, if it is proven that the police have intentionally increased the weight of the drugs and presented false reports, criminal charges must invariably be filed against the police officers who conducted that raid. Additionally, they must be dismissed from service.
The purpose of the law is to serve justice, not to punish the innocent. The time has come for the entire society to unite and raise its voice against such acts that blatantly violate the fundamental rights of citizens by abusing state power and hiding behind the cover of the law. Justice must be equal for all!