INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Deshabandu Tennakoon, the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) in charge of the Western Province, has been appointed as the
Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP).The appointment was made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe pursuant to the powers vested with him,
the Police Media Division said in a statement.Accordingly, SDIG Tennakoon will serve as the Acting IGP for a period of three months
He will duly assume duties in his new position, the statement read further.Tennakoon joined the police service in 1998 as an apprentice
Assistant Superintendent of Police
He was promoted to the posts of Superintendent of Police (SP) in 2006, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in 2011, and Deputy
Inspector-General (DIG) of Police in 2015.Later, in November 2019, Tennakoon was appointed the Acting Senior Deputy Inspector-General (SDIG)
of Police and was promoted to the post of SDIG on January 01, 2020.He has been serving as the SDIG in charge of the Western Province for
more than three years since December 05, 2019.Born in 1971, Tennakoon received his school education from Nalanda College in Colombo
25 years of service in Sri Lanka Police, Tennakoon has served in multiple areas of the country
He has rendered notable service to crack down on crimes and narcotics and implement a number of programs in the Western Province to curb the
spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic situation.The appointment comes after former Police Chief C
Wickramaratne announced that he would retire from the position, with effect from Nov.25 after four service extensions.Despite being
three months until June 26 by way of a special gazette notification issued in April.Later, on July 09, he was granted a second service
extension of three months, followed by three-week extensions given on October 13 and November 03.Meanwhile, a proposal is to be presented to
the next meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, stipulating the duration of the tenure of the IGP, sources told Ada Derana
As such, the service period of the police chief will be capped at a maximum of three years.
