Officials attached to the Uva Provincial Council, and development officers and management assistants of other state institutions, staged a protest opposite the Uva Provincial Council premises during the lunch hour on February 6.
This was to demand the arrest of the Ella Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, who was accused of slapping the officer-in-charge of the Ella Tourist Information office and removing a stock of furniture belonging to the centre, recently. They said the information officer, Indika Seneviratne, who was subjected to this alleged assault, was receiving treatment at the Badulla Hospital for a damaged ear drum.
The protestors said the Ella Police had failed to arrest the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman for the past four days, following the alleged assault.
The Ella Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, commenting on the issue, said the information centre had been opened in a building owned by the Pradeshiya Sabha, but the centre had forcibly acquired another adjoining building belonging to the Pradeshiya Sabha.
He added that when he went with a group of seven workers to remove the furniture and other property belonging to the Pradeshiya Sabha from the adjoining building, an officer there had abused him.
Thereafter, he left the place asking the workers to bring the property along with them. Subsequently, police had arrested the seven workers for removing the furniture. They were produced in court and released on bail, he said, adding that he had not assaulted anyone.
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