Editorial
Power of gangs
Monday 12th February, 2024
Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has said the ongoing anti-crime operation, Yukthiya, will not be abandoned under any circumstances. It is hoped that he will not face the same fate as Roshan Ranasinghe, who was sacked from the Cabinet for confronting crooked cricket administrators with links to some government leaders. Lawbreakers usually have the last laugh in this country.
It behoves Minister Alles and Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon to take a critical look at Operation Yukthiya, identify its shortcomings and adopt remedial measures. This is the best way to counter criticism of the ongoing anti-crime drive. Unfortunately, the government has chosen to go on the offensive and tar all critics with the same brush.
Hundreds of arrests the police make almost on a daily basis have apparently proved counterproductive as evident from the fact that the government is drawing heavy flak from various human rights organisations including some UN agencies. ‘Show arrests’, which are made for political optics rather than law enforcement priorities, are to be avoided. Arguments against Operation Yukthiya are not without some merit, but the need for a sustained campaign to neutralise the underworld cannot be overstated.
It has now been revealed that even some military personnel work as hired guns of wealthy underworld kingpins, who have emerged so powerful that they dare plan attacks on the CID headquarters, with the help of some military personnel to secure the release of their colleagues being detained and grilled. Thankfully, a commando-style underworld operation to remove two drug dealers from the CID went pear-shaped, a few months ago. How vulnerable the ordinary people have become vis-à-vis the rise of criminal gangs goes without saying.
The netherworld of crime and drugs in this country is full of organised gangs with international links, and it looks as if they were running a parallel government; some gang leaders even threaten high-ranking police officers. The country is awash with narcotics and illegal firearms, and stringent action is needed to save the public, especially children and the youth. So, let it be repeated that operations against crime syndicates must go on, but they must be free from gratuitous arrests and human rights violations.
If narcotic smuggling is to be prevented, the drug busters must remain intensely focussed on rogue multi-day fishing craft, and the ports, through which freight containers are brought in allegedly without proper checks. If these vessels are monitored and surveilled properly with thorough checks being conducted on imports, it may be possible to break the back of the narcotic problem sooner than expected.
Crime reduction operations, like Yukthiya, alone cannot ensure public safety however essential they may be. What has facilitated the rise of the underworld is the nexus between criminals and powerful politicians, and the near collapse of the rule of law. The root causes of this unfortunate situation will have to be eliminated if the country is to be made safe.
Irrefutable evidence of a pro-government gang acting with impunity has come to light. The media has exposed a massive land grab in Rajanganaya, where a powerful group with links to the SLPP-UNP government, is destroying a part of the Wilpattu forest reserve. Having obtained a large extent of land on a 30-year lease for aloe vera cultivation, the leader of the gang is now felling trees, quarrying granite and constructing ponds in violation of environmental laws, according to media reports.
A group of environmentalists who visited the area recently came under a goon attack, and their vehicles were damaged. Villagers are too scared to protest against the gang for obvious reasons. The police stand accused of inaction. The gang is running a separate state in the area under its control to all intents and purposes, we are told. Will Minister Alles and the Acting IGP order the police to liberate this area from the clutches of pro-government goons terrorising the people, and destroying the environment?