Author name: Tharindu Withanage

Officers of Police Narcotics Bureau at Airport Unit and Customs Officers together with Police K-9, ‘Saara’, have conducted raid at the airport premises on 19-02-2025. During the raid, a 30-year-old Indian, who arrived to Sri Lanka, was arrested at the arrival terminal for keeping possession of 01 kg 330 grams of Kush. Saara constantly directed attention of the officers towards the luggage of the suspect. Consequently, the officers have taken measures to search the luggage and find the drugs which was carefully packed in four teddy bears.      

The Police Special Task Force was able to arrest the suspected gunman, who shot and killed organised criminal Ganemulla Sanjeewa and who was in disguise as a lawyer in the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court on the morning of 19.02.2025, in the Palaviya area of Puttalam the same evening. Preliminary investigations have revealed that this suspect has committed this murder in association with another woman. It was also revealed that this suspect had used several identity cards while appearing in several names. A fake lawyer’s identity card, which he had prepared for this crime, bearing the name Kodikarage Kasun Prabath Nissanka, has also been taken into custody by the investigating officers. The Colombo Crimes Division is conducting further investigations into this individual. Through these investigations, all information related to the crimes he was involved in, those who aided and abetted him in committing this crime, and this conspiracy is expected to be revealed. Using the CCTV footage installed in the Hon. Court, photographs of this person and the woman involved in this crime were identified, and the footage was forwarded to all police stations on the island. Steps were taken to first block the possibility of the suspect fleeing the country by sea and the possibility of going abroad through the airport. This person was then taken into custody after properly identifying the route taken by him using intelligence information. Investigations are also currently underway regarding the woman involved in this crime, and she will also be arrested in a short period of time.  

A 54-year-old suspect, who remained in a house in Heenatiyana, Katunayaka was arrested by the officers of the Colombo Crime Division on the afternoon of 17.02.2025 for the possession of, • 02 12-bore repeater type manufactured in a foreign country and 20 live ammunition of the said firearm • 02 blank magazines • A pistol type firearm manufactured in a foreign country  • 47 – 9mm live ammunition  • 02 blank magazines of the said type. The raid was conducted based on a piece of information uncovered by the Colombo Crime Division and a vehicle number plate, an insurance card, and 03 firearm license renewal receipts were also taken into police custody from the relevant house. The Colombo Crimes Division has initiated further investigations into the suspect, the firearms and the receipts.  

A person, who was in possession of 01 kilogram 56 grams of ice drug and 152 grams of heroin, was arrested by a team of officers of the Organized Crime Control Unit II of Police Special Task Force on 12.02.2025 at the address Bathgammulla, Ragama. The suspect, a resident of the Walpola area, Ragama, has been handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau for further investigations and investigations are to be conducted on 02 mobile phones which were in his possession, and the traffickers associated with the suspect are scheduled to be arrested. This suspect has been identified as a criminal operating under a drug trafficker who is handling the drug network in this country while hiding in the State of Dubai.  

Officers of the Western Province Intelligence Division arrested the suspect, who had fraudulently obtained two motorcycles, near the Wellawatte Railway Station on 09.02.2025, based on intelligence information received about a location where the suspect was expected to arrive. At that moment, another 21-year-old woman was with him, and the officers examined a revenue license, an insurance certificate, a national identity card, and a temporary driving license in their possession. Since those documents were identified as forged documents, during interrogation, it was revealed that the motorcycle was rented from the Ella area and was not returned, and the number plates that were fixed were of another motorcycle. After revealing that the couple had rented another motorcycle from another place on another day and it was kept at their temporary residence in the Poruwadanda area, Horana, without returning it, officers of the Western Province Intelligence Division went to the said temporary residence and engaged in inspections. The officers found the motorcycle in question, several forged national identity cards, a motorcycle registration certificate, several fake seals, and several machines used to make such licenses in the house. It was also revealed to the officers that the suspects had sold another such motorcycle to a person in the Polonnaruwa area by forging documents.  Further investigation revealed that a case has been filed against the 43-year-old suspect by the Bakamuna Police Station on charges of abusing an underage girl, and open warrants have been issued against both of them by the Aluthkade No. 03 Magistrate’s Court on a case filed by the Bambalapitiya Police Station for misuse of a motor vehicle. Both are residents of the Polonnaruwa area.