4.1.2 Statement by the DIG (Colombo) Gamini Mathurata He stated that a severe traffic congestion had been caused due to this procession along Union Place and Deans Road. Therefore, the police started to chase the students away by commanding them to disperse. They had to resort to the use of batons when the students did not disperse following the use of tear gas and water cannons. The police acted according to the circumstances at the moment. The Chairperson of the Commission inquired whether he took responsibility for the incident as the Senior Police officer. He maintained that he does not deny responsibility. The Chairperson inquired whether they received any orders from a political entity or police headquarters. He responded that they did not receive any such orders. 4.1.3 Statement by the Senior Superintendent Palitha Siriwardana He stated that a crowd of 1300 students participated in this unlawful assembly at Railway Fort and marched towards Ward Place. It is the duty of the police to protect the security of government offices in the area. Even though the police tried to arrange a meeting between the students and relevant authorities, the students refused to meet with any official from the Ministry of Higher Education, except the Minister. No force was used by the police for three hours while the students waited. 4.1.4 Statement by the Senior DIG Pujitha Jayasundara The Chairperson of the Commission inquired why the IGP had not released a statement regarding to this incident which had cause a controversy in the country. In response, he stated that the IGP was very busy that day and was also set to travel overseas the following day. As the highest-ranking official of the police force, the failure of the IGP to make a public statement on this national controversial was seen as a shortcoming by the Chairperson of the HRC, who stated that an announcement to the public regarding this matter was vital. 4.2 The Written Statement by the Respondents to the Human Rights Commission After the Commission conducted investigations by calling in both parties on 2015/11/03, the Commission asked the respondents for a written submission which was provided on the 2015/11/05. It states that 226 police officers and riot control officers from the Police field force had been deployed during this incident. In order to disperse this march, police officers were given the following instructions. The police officers were instructed to stand aside if the assembly was peaceful. If the demonstrators displayed any hostility, they should be advised to disperse. If that does not work, the police officers were told to use water cannons to disperse the crowd. If they continued to behave with hostility, the police officers were advised to use tear gas to disperse the crowd. If the above measures failed to work, the police officers were advised to chase away the crowd, causing them to disperse from a fear of being attacked by batons. Initially, the Colombo South Division DIG Palitha Panamaldeniya made an announcement asking the crowd of students to disperse. When they did not comply, the police officers used 3 water cannon bowsers, 19 tear gas bullets and 3 tear gas grenades during this incident. Later, 87