Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-02-28

Payment of Compensation for the deceased and injured persons in the conflict that occurred in the Welikada Prison on 09th November 2012

- In the conflict that occurred in the Welikada Prison on 09th November 2012, 27 prisoners died and a Prison Officer along with 20 prisoners sustained injuries. A 03 Member Committee was appointed to investigate into the incident and make recommendations and the Report of the Committee has now been submitted. According to the recommendations of the Committee, 16 deceased out of the 27 deceased have been recommended for payment of compensation and the Committee has recommended that payment of compensation is not needed for the remaining 11 deceased persons since they had died while attempting to escape from the prison and had also made recommendations for the payment of compensation for the Prison Officer and the 20 prisoners who had sustained injuries in the incident. Taking into consideration, the proposal made by Hon. D.M. Swaminathan, the Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs, the Cabinet decided on the payment of compensation of Rs.2,000,000/- to the next-of-kin of each of the 16 deceased persons and Rs.500,000/- to each injured person in the conflict that occurred in the Welikada Prison on 09-11-2012.