Sri Lanka has deployed military troops to three of its prisons including the main maximum-security Welikada jail in Colombo following a wave of violent unrest and attempted jailbreaks that left three inmates dead and 23 others wounded.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala confirmed that security forces restored order after thwarting an escape attempt by approximately 40 convicts at Welikada on Thursday night which resulted in one inmate's death and 10 injuries. Meanwhile at Kuruwita prison located southeast of Colombo two inmates were killed and 13 wounded during similar clashes. In a separate incident at Pallansena prison on Friday 30 inmates staged a rooftop protest refusing to return to their cells.
Minister Wijepala told parliament that authorities suspect a "conspiracy" behind the coordinated pattern of incidents.
This recent violence follows weeks of escalating tension in Sri Lanka's penal system, where riots at two other facilities last month claimed the lives of 10 guards and 23 inmates.
Officials attribute the growing crisis to severe overcrowding, noting that Sri Lankan prisons currently hold four times their intended capacity. Furthermore over three-quarters of the country's prison population consists of remand prisoners awaiting trial primarily on drug-related charges.
Although the government announced plans last month to convert disused state buildings into temporary prisons no new facilities have yet been put into operation.
