JO claims Police have failed to curb violence

By Nuwan Senarathna 

The Joint Opposition yesterday accused the Police of failing to control underworld activities in the country, claiming that violence has been on the rise since the arrival of the Coalition Government.

“Since the Coalition Government took office, the rate of criminal activities has increased throughout the country,” MP Shehan Semasinghe said, while speaking at a press conference held in Colombo.

However, the parliamentarian’s claim was not backed by Police statistics which recorded a declining trend in crime rates over the years. 

MP Semasinghe stated that the Government and law enforcement had failed to prevent gun violence which he said had led to public unrest. 

“We can see that underworld gang members are influencing the activities of the Government and it is one of the biggest concerns regarding the safety of the people in this country. We have not seen any action taken by the Government or Police to curb any of these activities. I must say that underworld gang members have started to control this country,” he added.

He pointed out that murders and underworld activities had created uncertainty amongst the public and damaged the reputation of the country. He also highlighted that the chaos in the country had negatively affected the local business community. 

Semasinghe said that there were reasons to believe that the Police was being controlled by certain underworld figures. He went on to say that further information on the alleged attempt to assassinate President Maithripala Sirisena had revealed a connection with people living abroad which creates national security doubts.