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 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 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 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, with the speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane acting unconstitutionally voting which the supreme courts of Sri Lanka suspending Deshabandu acting in post.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake appointed Priyantha Weerasooriya as the 37th Inspector General of Police on 13 August 2025. He had previously served in an acting capacity since 27 September 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.
Inspectors General of Police Inspector General Took office Left office Appointed by 1 3 September 1866 1872 Robinson 2 1872 1873 Gregory 3 1873 1891 4 1891 1902 Gordon 5 1902 1905 Ridgeway 6 1905 1910 Blake 7 1910 1913 McCallum 8 1913 1937 Chalmers 9 1937 1942 Stubbs 10 1942 1944 Caldecott 11 1944 1946 Moore 12 1946 1955 13 26 July 1955 24 April 1959 Goonetilleke 14 1 May 1959 2 February 1963 15 3 February 1963 3 June 1966 Gopallawa 16 4 June 1966 7 July 1967 17 8 July 1967 13 September 1970 18 14 September 1970 23 August 1978 19 24 August 1978 14 March 1982 Jayewardene 20 20 March 1982 20 March 1985 21 20 April 1985 5 December 1985 22 6 December 1985 31 July 1988 23 1 August 1988 29 November 1993 Premadasa 24 29 November 1993 31 July 1995 Wijetunga 25 31 July 1995 31 August 1998 Kumaratunga 26 1 September 1998 27 August 2002 27 1 October 2002 14 October 2003 28 19 December 2003 30 September 2004 29 1 October 2004 11 October 2006 30 12 October 2006 31 June 2008 M. Rajapaksa 31 1 July 2008 2 November 2009 32 3 November 2009 17 June 2011 33 16 July 2011 11 April 2016 34 20 April 2016 14 March 2020 Sirisena 35 27 November 2020 23 November 2023 G. Rajapaksa 36 26 February 2024 24 July 2024 (suspended) Wickramasinghe 37 13 August 2025 Incumbent Dissnayake
See also Inspector-General of Police Sri Lanka Police Special Task Force Ministry of Defence
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References
External links Official Police Website