The police, the Special Task Force and the army have reportedly intervened to control the unrest that broke out in the Matara Prison last night. At around 1 am today, security forces once again fired into the air and launched a tear gas attack on the prison.
Several prison officers were also injured in the attack by the inmates and were hospitalized. Twenty-five female inmates have been transferred to the Angunukolapalessa Prison due to the situation that arose.
The clash occurred due to the transfer of an inmate involved in drug trafficking to another prison. Subsequently, more than five hundred inmates broke out of a prison cell and the police and the Special Task Force had to be called in to control the situation, prison sources say.