Among the 11 inmates died in the clash at the Mahara Prison on the 29th was a, there is a inmate who lived in resident of the Kalu Bridge Railway Reserve in Ja-Ela.
His name is Sampath Pushpakumara. Twenty-nine-year-old Sampath is a father of three. Sampath, who practiced singing on buses, was arrested by the Ja-Ela Police on a drug charge about five months ago and remanded under Section 54.
Although Sampath lived in Mahara Prison, his children now knew that their father had left abroad. The three children have now lost their fathers in a prison shooting. Children cannot understand it. They are waiting for Dad to come home on a plane.
Eight persons living in the Ja-Ela Railway Reserve have built temporary houses and settled down. These people do not have a national identity card. That is a permanent residence address because no Grama Niladhari has come forward to certify their residence.
They do not have a National Identity Card to prove that they were born in Sri Lanka but are citizens of Sri Lanka. They use a certified photograph when needed.
Sampath’s wife Lasanthi says that if her husband had a national identity card, such a tragedy would not have happened today. Because Sampath does not have a national identity card, he has been rejected everywhere. No one is willing to give up a job. As a result, he became addicted to drugs as he became more and more isolated from society, she said.
Sampath’s wife Lasanthi is requesting the responsible government authorities to provide her with some land to build a permanent home for her children who are living alone.