Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed Senior DIG Priyantha Weerasuriya as the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.
The President’s Secretary Nandika Kumanayake presented the appointment letter to the Weerasuriya on Friday, the PMD said.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on July 24 suspended previous IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon from serving his office and suggested an acting appointment be made.
The Supreme Court verdict on Tennekoon came after granting leave to proceed for nine fundamental rights petitions filed against his appointment as IGP.
However, previous President Ranil Wickremesinghe did not appoint a successor as the Election Commission declared the presidential elections days after the court order.
Wickremesinghe’s government later said Tennakoon would remain in office, as there are no legal provisions for Wickremesinghe to make an acting appointment after the polls have been declared. But, Tennakoon did not continue in his office.
Prior to this appointment, Weerasooriya served as the Senior SIG in charge of the North Central Province, a position he has held since March 2024.
He has served in the police for 36 years and is the the first officer in the police’s 158-year history to rise from the rank of aPolice Constable to IGP.
He is a law graduate from the University of Colombo and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management.
He had served as the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Crime and Traffic, as well as the Director of Police Logistics. He has also participated in United Nations peacekeeping missions in East Timor and Haiti