Sri Lanka has deployed heavily armed troops to its main high-security prisons after a wave of riots left three inmates dead and 23 injured across multiple facilities. One prisoner was killed Thursday night when about 40 inmates broke out of their cells at Welikada prison in Colombo, while two more died Friday morning during a second riot at Kuruwita prison, roughly 80 kilometres southeast of the capital. Police also fired tear gas at protesting inmates at an open prison in Negombo.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament the violence was linked to narcotics dealers and rival criminal gangs. The disturbances follow two earlier riots since July that killed 10 prison officials and at least 20 inmates at facilities outside Colombo.
Authorities attribute the unrest to severe overcrowding. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said prisons hold more than 39,000 inmates against a capacity of just 10,000, while over three-quarters of detainees are awaiting trial, mostly on drug-related charges. Plans to convert disused public buildings into prisons have yet to yield any operational sites.