Daily NEWS Srilanka

13 campus students who had erected a makeshift shelter and engaged in a sathygraha at Lipton Roundabout in Colombo showing scant respect to court orders were taken into custody this afternoon. The police took action to remove the said makeshift shelter from that location and water cannons were used in the process of

The student activists of the medical faculty who engaged in a protest by erecting a makeshift shelter by the name of 'Nonidana rathriya' were involved in chanting music throughout the night and in a sathyagraha too had said that it would not be shifted until the SAITM ssue is won.

The police who appeared on the scene armed with an injunction order from Colombo Magistrate Court made a request that the makeshift shelter be removed because it is a public hindrance and asked them to vacate the place within 15 minutes; however the students had not acceded to this request. The students have kept on questioning the police officers as to how it could become a public hindrance. After an exchange of words in that regard the Inter University Students' Federation released an announcement saying that without allowing sufficient time for the students to remove their belongings action was taken to disperse the students by resorting to an attack of high pressure water cannons.

On this occasion 12 male students and a female student was taken into custody. 8 students of Karapitiya Medical Faculty, 4 students of Ragama Medical Faculty and the female student are among them. The Antharaya has alleged that various items amounting to the value of lakhs have been taken into police custody and that bags containing books and documents etcetera of educational value and hired raincoats were among those; thus attacking them without leaving time to remove any of those things is unjustified.