The Police and the spread of organised crime

The dramatic shooting incident in Athurugiriya earlier this week in which the Chairman of the Sunhill Group of Companies Surendra Wasantha Perera, better known as “Club Wasantha” was killed calls into question the success of the anti-vice operation that has been undertaken by the Police in recent months.

The “yukthiya” operation was launched in December last year targeting drugs and underworld-related activities in Sri Lanka. Even cash rewards ranging from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 500,000 were offered to informants but gun violence and gang wars are continuing unabated.

The broad daylight killing of Wasantha Perera by two men armed with T-56 automatic weapons who got away with such ease is ample evidence that the much-hyped Police operation has a long way to go in combating organised crime in the country.

Police say that the murder was carried out on the orders of notorious criminal Mohammad Najim Mohammad Imran alias Kanjipani Imran who is believed to be in France. He escaped the country while on bail in 2020. Police say that Kanjipani Imran wanted revenge from Wasantha Perera, who he believed tipped off the Police on the whereabouts of another underworld figure Madhush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush, which led to Madush’s arrest in Dubai. Madush was subsequently killed in a shooting in October 2020 while in Police custody.

Details of the crime emerging from investigation reads more like a mafia story and the ongoing gang wars in Sri Lanka and the number of shootings is making Sri Lankan criminals resemble the mafiosos.

The Athurugiriya incident is not an isolated one. In February this year, five persons were shot dead in the Bellata area in Hambantota District. This shooting too was linked to a contract given by a Lankan gangster residing in Dubai while the main suspect in the incident was a former naval rating. There have been several shootings in which bystanders have fallen victim. Guns spare no one and given that firearms including automatic weapons are now in the hands of organised criminals, shows that failing to crackdown on organised crime is a threat to the population in general.

The current IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon took the lead in starting the Yukthiya operation but after the much-publicised start, the questions being asked is how successful has this operation been?

The people of this country have to rely on the Police to keep them safe, but the increasing number of high-profile murders is doing little to enhance confidence in the Police.

Making matters worse was the conduct of some senior Police officials this week who chose to interrogate a suspect in the Athurugiriya shooting in full view of the media in violation of the law. The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) condemned the questioning of the suspects as cameras rolled and said it also constituted a violation of the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the directives of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) warning of disciplinary action against Police officials who break the legal rules on interrogation of suspects.

Meanwhile the Police sources say they have an adequate number of trained personnel to deal with the surge in violence but what they lack may be motivation. Fighting organised criminals, many who have links to the politically powerful, and who have enough money to throw around, is no easy task. Police personnel are also not above reproach. There have been many instances where the underworld operatives have been found to have links with Police personnel and hence have found the freedom to operate as they please.

The Wasantha Perera killing will certainly not be the last of such incidents as measures to deter criminals have been inadequate and ineffective so far. Whether the Police are equipped to deal with such violence is highly questionable.