Gangster’s  paradise

February brings up many ghosts of the past for Sri Lankans mainly because of two well-known personalities who were murdered in cold blood that month several decades ago. Vijaya Kumaratunga, the heartthrob of the Sinhala silver screen was gunned down in front of his residence on 16 February 1988. Almost exactly two years later, a budding actor and promising journalist Richard de Zoysa was abducted from his home and his body found washed ashore on the beach at Moratuwa on 18 February 1990. 

Their untimely deaths are tragedies of epic proportions, but no proper investigations were carried out into either of the killings and like many other such cases in the country, it’s always been a guessing game on who were behind these killings.

Fast forward to February 2025, there is a sharp escalation in violence in the country, this time mostly gang related. First there was the dramatic killing of a high-profile suspect Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne, alias “Ganemulla Sanjeewa”, who was shot dead inside the Magistrate Court in Colombo. This came hours after a shooting in Middeniya where two young children along with their father were killed in a shooting. This was followed by another man being shot dead on the beach close to Ja-Ela yesterday, also believed to be gang-related. All these killings, coming thick and fast, is a cause of great anxiety to the public who fear that they could get caught up in the spilling gang wars and are putting the Government at unease.

Many in Sri Lanka attribute the rise of criminal gangs to the change that came to the country with the introduction of the open economy after the 1977 General election that brought the United National Party (UNP) to power. It is no secret that many UNP politicians gave patronage to criminals who not only helped to intimidate political opponents but also began to use their connections to get ahead with illegal but lucrative businesses. Since then, several Governments have come and gone but the clout of criminals, who have now moved to the illegal drug trade and money laundering, have only grown. 

The military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 saw a lull in these incidents but since then, with many well-trained military personnel decommissioned and out of work and some deserting, some of the men have become part of the culture of growing gang violence. The recent incidents and subsequent arrests have shown that some serving in the Police are hand in glove with criminals while former military men have also become involved with these gangs, working as contract killers.

This is another of the many ills the NPP Government has inherited from its predecessors, and it is one that the Government has to deal with urgently and address with the seriousness that it deserves.

The Government came to power with promises to reduce security for MPs and cut down costs of providing personal security, but this is a move in the wrong direction given the high level of violence that is prevalent in society. Politicians in the country have paid a high price, often targeted in terrorist attacks and fallen victim to other forms of violence. There is no guarantee that politicians won’t once again be targeted by criminals hence there is a need to beef up their security.

Along with that the Government needs to act fast to reassure the public there are adequate measures in place to stop criminal gangs taking the upper hand. This is no longer a problem among gangsters, but it’s becoming a problem for the public too and hence the need for the Government to act fast.