Ihusaan says police will show bodycam footage from ministry fire
Ihusaan said he would ask police to hold a press conference on the investigation and expected it could take place this week.
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Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusaan has said police will show bodycam footage recorded by officers who responded to the 2024 fire that damaged a building housing three government ministries.
Speaking to journalists outside Velanaage on Saturday, Ihusaan said he would ask police to hold a press conference on the investigation and expected it could take place this week.
“I will ask the police to hold a press conference. I think we may be able to hold it this week. I will check and let you know. I think it can be held this week,” Ihusaan said.
Asked whether bodycam footage from police officers who attended the scene would be shown at the briefing, Ihusaan said it would.
“It will be shown. It will be shown. All the footage will be shown,” he said.
The fire broke out in December 2024 in the building that housed the Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development, the Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure, and the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy.
Police had planned to hold a press conference last year to provide information on the investigation. The briefing was postponed and later cancelled, and police have not since publicly presented detailed findings from the investigation.
Ihusaan previously told Parliament in August that the investigation had been completed and had found no evidence that the fire was deliberately started.
Responding to a question from Vaikaradhoo MP Ahmed Ziyad, Ihusaan said investigators had determined from bodycam footage recorded by the first police officers at the scene that the fire initially started in electrical wiring inside an air-conditioning unit above the ceiling.
The issue returned to public attention earlier this month after former President Abdulla Yameen alleged that the fire had been deliberately started and claimed police knew who was responsible.
Following Yameen’s remarks, Ihusaan instructed police to look into the allegations. Police also sought to summon Yameen to provide information, but he declined to accept the summons and later sent a letter saying he had no information relating to the matter.
