1990 Strangeways Prison riot administrative offices on the lower floor and the chapel on the upper floor. Remand prisoners were held in wings G, H, I and K of a separate prison, linked to the main prison through workshops and a kitchen. The Certified Normal Accommodation Figure for Strangeways, the number of prisoners the prison was designed to hold, was 970. The population of the prison had increased in the months before the riot, from 1,417 in January 1990 to a peak of 1,658 on 27 March. On 1 April, the prison contained 1,647 prisoners – about 925 convicted adult prisoners, 500 remand prisoners
2012 Welikada prison riot handcuff the prisoners but they objected and arguments and fighting broke out between the STF commandos and the prisoners. Some prisoners alleged that they had been stripped and beaten up. The prisoners started throwing stones and other objects at the STF. As the disturbance grew the STF tried to suppress the riot using tear gas but at around 4.30 pm prisoners working in the "Bingo" section broke into the main area and also started fighting with STF. The STF and the prison officials had to retreat from the prison. The prisoners took control of the prison and a siege ensued