Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Police. They are the most senior police officer in Sri Lanka and oversees all police personnel throughout the country. The IGP reports to the Minister of Law and Order, when the Police Service is under the Ministry of Law and Order as it is currently.

History
The post of Inspector General of Police in Sri Lanka can be traced as far back as 1797 when the office of Fiscal was created and Fredric Barron Mylius was appointed as Fiscal of Colombo and entrusted with responsibility of policing the City of Colombo. In 1833, the Head of the Police Service was called the Superintendent of Police, in 1836 the designation was changed to Chief Superintendent of Police.

The official establishment of the Ceylon Police Force was on 3 September 1866 when William Robert Campbell (then the chief of police in the Indian province of Rathnageri) was appointed as Chief Superintendent of Police in Ceylon to be in charge of the Police units. This post officially became the Chief of Police but was soon changed to that of the Inspector General of Police accordingly William Robert Campbell became the first Inspector General of Police.

On 26 April 2019 President Maithripala Sirisena instructed Pujith Jayasundara to resign over failures that led to the deadly Easter bomb attacks. Due to a lack of response from Jayasundara, he was put on compulsory leave with Senior DIG C. D. Wickramaratne appointed as the acting Inspector General.

After two extensions Wickramaratne was given a third extension by President Ranil Wickramasinghe on 9 October 2023, which was subsequently rejected by the Constitutional Council, with all members disagreeing with the president leaving the validity of the post and making the post vacant for the first time in the country's history. On 29 November 2023 Deshabandu Tennakoon was appointed acting Inspector General by President Wickremesinghe. He was formally confirmed as Inspector General on 26 February 2024.

Removal
The Inspector General of Police can be removed through an investigation by a 3-member committee if found guilty of specified offence(s) under the Removal of Officers (Procedure) Act No. 5 of 2002.