Author name: Tharindu Withanage

On a police intelligence tip-off, a team of officers from the Kiribathgoda Police Station stopped a three-wheeler near the new road in the Kiribathgoda Police area on the evening of 21.07.2025 and inspected it. The person behind the three-wheeler was found to be in possession of a T-56 firearm, a loaded ammunition magazine, and 05 grams and 560 milligrams of narcotic Ice.         This firearm has been revealed to be a firearm used in a shooting in the Bloemendal area and was seized while being re-transported. The suspect is a 30-year-old resident of Vavuniya.    

Based on a piece of information received by the officers of the Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau of the Criminal Investigation Department, a suspect was arrested on 21 – 07 – 2025 at Weluwana Road in Dematagoda Police Area for the possession a foreign-made pistol with 12 bullets. Subsequently, another suspect was arrested for aiding and abetting in Kollupitiya Police Area for the act of keeping said firearm in possession. Those suspects, who are at the age of 24 and 42 years, are residents of Dematagoda area. The Homicide and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau conducts further investigations in connection with the suspects and the firearm.

Further investigations were conducted by the Kiribathgoda Police Station regarding a suspect who was arrested with a T-56 firearm, a magazine with 30 rounds of ammunition, and the narcotic ice in the New Road of the Kiribathgoda Police area on the evening of 21.07.2025. Investigations conducted into the suspect have revealed that the above suspect had brought this firearm from Vavuniya to the Colombo area and had planned to hand over this firearm to another party and subsequently taken it back to Vavuniya after committing the crime. Based on the information revealed by the suspect, another suspect who has close contacts with the said suspect was arrested on 22.07.2025 while transporting 10 grams of narcotic ice in a three-wheeler in the Neriyakulam area of the Cheddikulam Police area, by a group of officers of the Divisional Crime Investigation Bureau, Vavuniya The suspect is a 22-year-old resident of the Neriyakulam area. Based on the information uncovered from the above suspect, the police have seized 86 different types of hand grenades, 321 rounds of T-56 live ammunition, 3 rounds of sidearm ammunition, and 5600 narcotic tablets hidden in the garden and house of the suspect. Further investigations regarding the arrested suspects above will be conducted by the Terrorist Investigation Division.

A 54-year-old individual in possession of 102 grams and 260 milligrams of narcotic ‘ice’  was arrested by officers of the Colombo Central Divisional Crime Detective Bureau on the evening of 21.07.2025, while waiting in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Colombo 02. The arrest was made during a raid carried out based on a piece of information revealed, and the vehicle, which was used to transport narcotics, and two mobile phones of the suspect were handed over to the Kompannavidiya Police Station for further investigation. Further investigations are being carried out to apprehend individuals who are aiding and abetting the drug smuggling linked to the suspect

A man, who was walking on the bank of the Vienna Canal at the 17th Mile Post of Mahiyangana Police Area has slipped and fallen into the canal in the evening of 20 -07 – 2025. While he was struggling for the survival, P.C. 86726 K. G. Sumedha Bandara, attached to the Mahiyangana Police College, who was happened to pass by, immediately rushed to the canal and managed to save the victim on the face of huge body of water flowing into the canal. It has been reported that wife of the Police officer has extended a great support to rescue the person. Immediate steps have been taken to save the man who was fallen into the cannel. Further rescue measures have been taken by the residents in the area together with officers attached to Mahiyangana Police Station in search of the 26-year-old female, who was drowned and disappeared. It has been reported that she is the fiancée of the person who was saved. She is a student of Rajarata University and a resident of Hambantota area.

On the afternoon of 20.07.2025, officers from the Rasnayakapura Police Station, acting on a piece of information revealed, conducted a raid at the Akkara 50 estate within the Rasnayakepura Police Area and arrested an individual who was found in possession of a 12-bore firearm manufactured in a foreign country. The 63-year-old suspect is a resident of the Nakkawatta area. On the night of 19.07.2025, officers from the Kosgoda Police Station, conducting an investigation on a group of individuals armed with a pistol and a sharp weapon who had caused damage to property in a residence within the Kosgoda Police Area, arrested five individuals, and on information provided by the main suspect, a pistol with a magazine was recovered and taken into police custody. Two suspects who were found in possession of locally manufactured firearms without valid licences were arrested by officers from the Keppetipola Police Station and Buttala Police Stations in Hingurugalaara and Balumgala areas, respectively. Both suspects, who are 36 and 62 years old, are residents in the same area.

A 22-year-old individual residing at Palansuriya Gama was killed and another 27-year-old individual residing at Yainna was injured in a shooting incident that took place in the Kahawatta Police Area on the night of 30.06.2025. The jeep used to kidnap the two youths and the four suspects who aided and abetted the crime were arrested from 4 locations in the Homagama Police Area on 15.07.2025 with the assistance of the Western Province North Crime Division, Police Special Task Force, and the Meegoda Police Station. At the time of the arrest, one suspect was in possession of 96 grams of the narcotic ice and 197 grams of heroin, while another suspect was in possession of a handcuff and 12 grams of narcotic ice, which were taken into police custody. It has been further revealed that this crime was committed under the direction of a criminal who is currently living abroad. The investigation officers are pursuing the other suspects involved in the crime through interrogation and based on the clues.

Based on a piece of information revealed by a woman who was arrested for the possession of 20 grams of narcotic ‘ice’, the Colombo North Divisional Crime Investigation Bureau searched a house in the Newham Square of Colombo 13 on the evening of 13.07.2025, and found 745 grams of narcotic ‘ice’, a revolver manufactured in a foreign country, and 05 bullets of the said weapon and arrested a 39-year-old man staying in the house. The woman was a 31-year-old resident of Colombo 12 area, and was also arrested on the evening of the same day at Ibbawatta Junction of the Modara Police Area. Further investigation into the suspect revealed that he is a leading accomplice of a person involved in organized crimes and drug trafficking. The Modara Police Station is conducting further investigations.