Sri Lankan University student died of aneurism, not police assault, IGP says

A university student who Thursday night reportedly succumbed to injuries he received from an alleged police assault died of a brain aneurism and there was no evidence of any fatal injuries caused by the police , Sri Lanka Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya said.


He told the media that according to the post mortem report of the Judicial Medical Officer, the 25-year-old third year student at Ruhunu University in Matara died of internal bleeding caused by a brain aneurism.

The victim Susantha Aruna Bandara had last night succumbed to the injuries he received on June 18 during a protest at the University campus. Bandara had spent nearly a month in hospitals receiving treatment for head injuries.
IGP Balasuriya said the police have nothing to hide and the post mortem report has mentioned that the cause of death was not due to any assault.
Speaking to ColomboPage, Inter University Students Federation (USF) Convener, Udul Premaratne said Bandara had suffered severe head injuries when university students were assaulted by the police within the university hostel premises on June 18.
However the victim's mother has told Ada Derana that her son died of injuries received from an assault by another student and not the police.

The IGP said the police will investigate the mother's complaints and the Police have already sent two Criminal Investigations Department (CID) teams to the student's hometown Badulla and Matara to probe the death as the police is been blamed by several university student factions.