Author name: Tharindu Withanage

On a piece of information received from Naval Intelligence officers, a team of officers from the Police Narcotics Bureau conducted a raid in the Wennappuwa Police Area on 02.07.2025 and arrested two suspects, who were transporting 913 kilograms and 124 grams of Kerala cannabis, 02 pistols manufactured in a foreign country, 04 magazines of the same, and 40 live ammunitions of the same in a cab. A suspect who has aided and abetted the crime along with the said cab was also taken into custody. The arrested suspects, aged 24, 48 and 51 years, are residents of the Nochchiyagama, Ulukkulama and Anuradhapura areas.  

Following the information that two individuals were fleeing after shooting a black colour luxury motor car with a T-56 firearm in the morning of 03 – 07 – 202, at the Kandana city center, immediate measures have been taken by police stations nearby to set up roadblocks in order to search for the suspects.   Accordingly, Officer-in-Charge of Traffic Unit of Dungalpitiya Police Station, Sub Inspector of Police, Mr. Thushara Karunathilaka, together with Police Constable 106749 Weeraratne and Police Constable 106816 Dissanayake, conducted a thorough search at roadblock in Lellama area.   Two men riding a red scooter-type motorcycle with a relatively large bag reached to roadblock in Lellama area from Mankuliya area around 12.40 pm. Police officers signaled the motorcycle to stop, but the motorcyclists disregarded the order and rode the motorcycle at high speed passing the roadblock.   Sub Inspector of Police, Mr. Thushara took immediately actions, disregarding the possible risk on his life, and started chasing the motorcyclists, who were suspected of be the shooters carrying a T-56 weapon. Two Police Constables followed the Officer Thushara with a T-56 weapon loaded with 30 bullets.   The suspects were riding their motorcycle at high speed on the Nelellawatta road that runs through Lellama and collided with a stationary lorry near the place called Morawala. The CCTV footage clearly shows that this occurred due to panic when they realized that their attempt to evade the pursuit of the Sub-Inspector of Police was futile.   When the Sub-Inspector of Police single-handedly grabbed the pillion rider by the neck and arrested him, the two constables who arrived shortly fired a T-56 bullet at the legs of the fleeing suspect who was the rider, as they were well aware of the the time and effort it would take to re-arrest him if he escaped.   As skilled police officers, they had been able to apprehend the fleeing suspects by incapacitating them. When checking the bag in possession of the suspects, a parcel of heroin and a toy pistol had been recovered.   The injured person was admitted to the hospital and is receiving treatment under police protection. As it has been revealed, he is a suspect who has been arrested several times by a number of police stations in the past for possession of cannabis and drugs and with cases pending in court.   Dungalpitiya Police Station has initiated further investigations into these two suspects and the crimes that they were planning to commit using the toy pistol.          

Assistant Superintendent of Police, Attorney-at-Law, F. U. Wootler assumed duties as the Media Spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Police and the Director of the Police Media Division on the morning of 03.07.2025 at the Police Media Division. A brief ceremony was held to mark the occasion at the Police Media Division located on the 14th Floor, Suhurupaya Building, Battaramulla with the participation of the OIC and staff of the said Division. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Attorney-at-Law, F. U. Wootler, a father of two daughters, is a distinguished alumnus of St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala. He holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Buckinghamshire, England. He also obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from the University of Colombo on 2nd December 2015 while serving in the Sri Lanka Police. Having rendered an exceptional service as the Officer in charge of Police Station Eravur, Officer in charge of Police Station Dompe, Officer in charge of Police Station Katunayaka, Officer in charge of Police Station Wellawatta, Officer in charge of Headquarters Station Negombo, and Officer in charge of Headquarters Station Jaffna during the war that prevailed for 30 years in the country, with nearly 4 years of service in the Police Media Division, he has also gained fame as an expert on human rights who can communicate in all three languages, Sinhala, Tamil, and English,  Mr. Woottler, who served as a police advisor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in East Timor and South Sudan for 05 years, is an officer currently short-listed under the United Nations Professional – 3 (P-3) classification. In 2009, during his tenure as the President of the Sri Lanka Police Inspectors’ Association, he actively contributed towards the welfare of police inspectors with great dedication. Under his leadership, a memorial was built at the Police Inspectors’ Association premises in memory of the Inspectors of Police who sacrificed their lives for the country, and the design of the Police Inspectors’ tie is also credited to Assistant Superintendent of Police Woottler.  

The Negombo Divisional Crime Bureau has arrested 1881 kilograms and 100 grams (63 bags) of Tendu leaves imported into the country by sea without paying customs duties while they were being transported in a lorry. The arrest was made on the morning of 01.07.2025 in the Lagoon area of 2nd Kurana, Negombo, and it has been revealed that the suspect arrested along with the lorry is a 43-year-old resident of the Pitipana area. The Negombo Divisional Crime Bureau is conducting further investigations into the smuggling and the said suspect.

A suspect in possession of 16 kg and 890 g of Kerala cannabis was arrested during a raid conducted in the Kerawalapitiya area by the officers of the Special Task Force in the Wattala camp in the morning of 30.06.2025 and produced to the police station in Wattala. Similarly, two suspects in the age of 29 and 39 respectively were arrested in possession of 129 g of Kerala cannabis by carrying out a raid in Vijithapura area by the officers in Trincomalee camp in the morning of 30. 06.2025 and produced to the police station, Trincomalee, subsequently, on the same day evening, 20 kg and 200 g of dried Kerala cannabis was apprehended without a suspect in Neluwa Yaya area by the officers in Buttala camp and produced to the police station, Thanamalvila. During the raids carried out for the apprehension of illicit alcohol, a suspect in possession of 18.5 liters of illicit alcohol was arrested in the Udugama area of the Rambukkana police area, and a suspect in possession of 27 liters of illicit alcohol together with equipment used for the distillation of alcohol was also arrested in the Nariela area of the Karuwalagaswewa police area by the officers attached to the Kegalle and Puttalam camps, respectivel

During a raid conducted on 01.07.2025 at midnight, the Headquarters Chief Inspector of Police, Mr. T. M. D. Thalwatta and officers of Negombo Police Station arrested two persons who were engaged in an illicit liquor racket with 337 liters and 500 milliliters of illicit liquor and 5040 liters (28 barrels) of goda used for production. Based on a piece of information, it has been uncovered that a house located at the Light Mill Junction, Negombo had been rented and was skillfully being used to run as a large-scale brewery. In addition to liquor, equipment, and a stock of raw materials, including 12 packets of yeast used for fermenting goda has been found and taken into police custody.

The burnt body of a 50-year-old businessman from the Millawa area of Kurunegala was found from a jeep parked in a forest in the Diyabete area of Maho on 26.06.2025. Since the Maho Police Station revealed that this was an act of homicide, several police teams initiated investigations in search of the suspects to arrest them on the instructions of the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the North Western Province. Accordingly, a team of officers including the Officer in Charge of the Mawathagama Police Station has succeeded in arresting two suspects from Doratiyawa and Maho who were in possession of cash worth over Rs. 1.4 million and gold jewelry that the businessman was wearing worth over Rs. 4.8 million. The two 19 and 27-year-old individuals taken into custody of the Maho Police Station, are residents of the Maho and Pilessa areas. Further police investigations are under way.

As per the approval and decision of the National Police Commission and under Section No. 258 II of Procedural Rules of the Public Service Commission, the Acting Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasuriya, has appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police F. U. Wootler, who was performing duties as the Deputy Director of the Police Media Division, to perform the duties in the posts of Police Media Spokesperson and Director of the Police Media Division. In accordance with the orders mentioned above, Senior Superintendent of Police K. B. Manathunga, who has served as the Police Media Spokesperson and Director of the Police Media Division since December 16, 2024, has been appointed as the Officer-in-Charge of the Polonnaruwa Division.