Police want to catch those who fled WP to escape curfew

By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakoon

Police had launched a special operation to apprehend persons who left the Western Province hours before the imposition of the weekend quarantine curfew in the province, Western Province Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon said.

The SDIG said that police had received information that large numbers had left the province. “Many people have gone on trips and some to their native places to avoid the curfew. We have found that some had booked holiday resorts, hotels and guest houses outside the province soon after the announcement that the curfew would come into force from midnight Thursday.” The SDIG said that the special operation would focus on guest houses and hotels and other such places outside the Western Province. “We appealed to the people not to leave the Western Province. A special operation was launched to identify if people have travelled out of Colombo, circumventing Police road blocks, and to obtain information on such persons.”

The SDIG said that action would be taken against people who had travelled out of Colombo in violation of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance.