Trinity College’s badminton players and officials were yesterday assaulted at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo where they were contesting the all-island Under-19 inter-school championships in the latest case of violence against schoolboys.
An official of the Trinity College team said he identified the assailants as Air Force and Army personnel and was in the process of lodging a complaint with the Cinnamon Gardens police.
Another eye-witness at the scene told that he saw a group of men merely walk into the venue and manhandle the Trinity team coach Dinusha Roach, the school’s master in charge of badminton and three players.
He said the main target of the intruders appeared to be the coach while the three players who jumped to his rescue were set upon and assaulted.
Uniformed Air Force personnel were also present at the venue and an investigation found out that they were present at the request of a parent to protect their son who it was feared could have also been a target which meant there was prior knowledge of the attack.
A Trinity official, who did not want to be named for obvious reasons, told that they were assaulted by Air Force and the Army personnel including a national player while some matches were in progress at the indoor stadium.
The event was scheduled to end yesterday.
