New circular to issue curfew passes to reduce unnecessary queues at Police stations

April 07, 2020

- Curfew passes will be issued in four categories

- Legal action to be taken against those who misuse their service ID

Issuing new curfew passes will be carried out in four categories by the Police Headquarters, offices of Senior DIGs in-charge of each province, divisional Superintendents of Police (SPs) and police stations in order to reduce unnecessary queuing-up at Police stations, the new circular issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD) this evening (March 7) stated.

Earlier, the government imposed an island-wide police curfew reinforcing its efforts to prevent unnecessary public gatherings to contain the spread of the COVID -19 virus among communities.

The curfew imposed was lifted intermittently with extreme cautions to facilitate families and households’ access to essential supplies. However, travel between districts was restricted with exceptions to those involved in providing essential services and delivery agencies, the PMD said.

According to the PMD, the new circular was issued on observations made about a large number of people continued to be in queues at police stations to obtain curfew passes.

The circular was issued following instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Following are key highlights of the new circular for issuing curfew passes:

- The Police Headquarters will issue curfew passes to any institution with 50 or more staff members residing in Colombo district.

- Curfew passes to institutions with 50 or more staff members from Gampaha and Kalutara districts will be issued by the office of Senior DIG in-charge of the Western Province.

- Institutions with 50 or more staff members from other provinces will be issued curfew passes by the offices of the Senior DIGs in charge of each province.

- Institutions with 10 or more and less than 50 employees will be issued curfew passes by SPs’ Offices in respective divisions.

- Each Police station will be in charge of issuing curfew passes to institutions with less than 10 employees in their areas. They are also authorized to issue passes to any individual on humanitarian grounds.

Further, employees of Presidential Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, ministries, departments, corporations, statutory boards and authorities can use their service ID as a curfew pass.

More details in this regard can be obtained from the official website of Sri Lanka Police – www.police.lk – and other Government news websites.

According to the PMD circular, stern legal action will be taken against those who misuse their service IDs.