Police News

The officers of Bemmulla Police Station raided a large-scale illegal liquor trade on the border of the Dadugangoya River through the middle of Minuwangoda’s Katu Goda area and seized 31140 liters of Goda in 173 barrels on 07.01.2025.    At the time of the raid, no one was present at the place and two suspects residing in Jaela Ekala area, where the racket was being carried out, have been identified and police investigations are underway to arrest them. 

On the evening of 07.01.2025, a team of officers of the Narcotics Bureau Kandy, having conducted a surprise check, arrested a driver of the same three-wheeler parked in front of the People’s Bank Dambulla, in possession of 100 grams of heroin and 60 grams of ice drug. The officers had conducted this surprise inspection based on a piece of information received, and further investigations are underway to arrest other suspects of the network.  

During a two-day search operation carried out in Zone 04 of the Yala Reserve, officers of the Gonagan Ara Police Station uncovered 04 cannabis cultivations covering an area of 5¼ acres on 07.01.2025 and were able to destroy about 500,000 cannabis plants, well-grown up to a height of around 4 feet. By the time the raid was conducted, no one had been there but a locally-manufactured firearm, which had been left, has been seized by the police. Do you have any information about the racketeers who are trying to make money through illegal means by cultivating and distributing cannabis shrewdly throughout the country putting the lives of the youth in jeopardy? Fellow citizens, Inform the Officers in Charge of the nearest police station about them, even if they are your kith and kin.  

Based on the piece of information received by the Central Anti Vice Striking Force – Walana, a group of officers of the said Unit have seized a Mitsubishi Jeep on 31.12.2024 at Pinwatta area which is said to be used by a former provincial council member residing in Pinwatta Police Area. The jeep which is similar to a military vehicle has been registered under a fake registration number of the Department of Motor Transport. It has been uncovered that the vehicles were illegally imported into Sri Lanka using fraudulent documents. Further investigation has been conducted, and accordingly, it has been revealed that 02 more Land Rover jeeps, which were said to be used by him, were parked in a house located in Ratmalana area. Measures have been taken by the Police to seize those vehicles on 01.01.2025 During the investigation conducted in relation to these 03 jeeps, it has been unveiled that these vehicles have been used under the registration numbers of the government vehicles that were condemned by the Motor Transport Department. These 03 jeeps have been handed over to the Police Station, Pinwatta. Further investigations have been carried out by the Central Anti Vice Striking Force – Walana

Investigations have been initiated regarding the smuggling of a stock of narcotics into the country by a fishing vessel on 31.10.2024, on the instructions of the Director of the Police Narcotics Bureau, Senior Superintendent of Police Mr. Hemal Prasantha.  Based on the information revealed in those investigations, during further questioning of the suspect, the owner of the fishing vessel, the police has recovered a foreign-made micro pistol, a magazine of same kind, and 04 live ammunitions hidden in a house by the said suspect. Another person suspected of having provided him with the firearm was also arrested in the Hikkaduwa area by officers on 05.01.2025 of the said bureau. The suspects, who were arrested, are residents of the Werellana and Gintota areas, aged 30 and 33 years.   

The chronicle of an investigation that found the two expensive mobile phones from Rathgama that were lost by a tourist couple at Thuparama Temple –  This is the chronicle of an investigation by the Tourist Police Bureau, Anuradhapura, which has found the two mobile phones worth about 500,000 rupees, within a short period of time, which were lost at the Thuparama Temple by an Australian couple, who were in a visit to Sri Lanka for a tour. The couple had visited the Thuparama Temple in Anuradhapura on the morning of 18.12.2024, and while on the way to visit Asgiriya, they have realized that the two phones were missing and lodged a complaint with the Anuradhapura Police Station. The OIC of the said bureau, Inspector of Police Mr. A.W.M. Suresh Santhaka Athapaththu, who has started the investigation from the place where the phones were last seen, that is where the shoes were kept, and has contacted the monk in charge of the temple, who is currently living overseas by phone. Then he has examined the CCTV footage, and has identified the foreign couple, who had forgotten the two phones that were placed on the side wall near the place where the shoes are kept, and an unknown woman and a man who took the two phones and boarded a bus. The license plate number of the bus was identified with great difficulty through the CCTV footage and the owner of the bus was contacted through the Department of Motor Traffic and it was revealed that the bus had been travelling from Galle to Jaffna on the said date with a group of pilgrims on a pilgrimage. Accordingly, the head pilgrim of the group was contacted and the female and the male persons who had taken the two phones were brought to the Rathgama Police Station and taken into police custody on 21.12.2024. During an awareness programme for hotel owners held on 21.12.2024 under the patronage of the Senior Superintendent of Police in charge of the Anuradhapura Division, Mr. Thilina Hewapathirana, Inspector of Police A.W.M. Suresh Santhaka Atapattu took steps to properly hand over the two relevant phones to the foreign couple. Moreover, the foreign couple, who was informed about the investigation that could locate their phones within a short period of about two days, had appreciated the commitment of the Sri Lanka Police.  

It has been observed that traffic police officers often use various types of flashlights for signaling vehicles to stop at night, and it may cause accidents due to the difficulty for drivers to handle and control the vehicle because of the light of the flashlights hit the faces of drivers, and that the officers are more likely to be involved in accidents by not wearing reflective jackets. Accordingly, as instructed previously the Acting Inspector General of Police has instructed the officers deployed in traffic duties to wear reflective luminous jackets and luminous gloves so that they are clearly visible to drivers when signaling to stop vehicles at night, and to use the red flashlights, to the furthest extent, which have currently been issued to police stations to stop vehicles in the future. Moreover, the Acting Inspector General of Police has further instructed the Headquarters Inspectors, Officers in Charge and Officers in Charge Traffic Police to constantly monitor whether the officers deployed in night duties are acting in the said manner.  

In the morning of 12.12.2024, a dead body of the 48-year-old man who resided in the Puwakpitiya area of Habarana was found near a hotel in Laksirigama of the Habarana Police area. Initially it was suspected that death was caused by a road accident, but by the preliminary investigation it was identified as a murder by slitting the throat. Accordingly, the officers of SOCO Habarana, fingerprint officers, and dogs from the Kennel Division were deployed to carry out thorough investigations to identify the criminal. Even though the identity of the suspect was revealed by the investigation, he had already fled the area. Therefore, the officers in police station Habarana launched a search operation to track down the suspect and were able to apprehend the suspect in the evening of 23.12.2024 while hiding in the Madurankuliya police area. The police found the purse wallet and the switch key of the motorcycle, which belonged to the deceased, in possession of the suspect. Further investigations are being carried out by the police station in Habarana regarding the suspect.  

Two more suspects were arrested in the Meegoda area during the investigations carried out by the police officers in the Western Province South Crime Division on 23.12.2024 over the shooting and killing of a man traveling in a car with his wife and child on the night of 14.12.2024, passing Nagahawatte in Meegoda. The suspects are of the ages of 26 and 33 and are residents of the Meegoda area. Based on information provided by one of the suspects, the investigating officers were able to recover a 9 mm pistol and 10 live ammunitions hidden on the bank of a ravine along the Meegoda Kurunduwatta Road. Accordingly, the police officers in the Western Province South Crime Division have arrested the shooter and 06 other suspects who aided and abetted the shooting and carried out further investigations on any other crimes they committed or are about to commit.