Friday 27th October, 2023

Hardly a day passes without an incident of gun violence being reported in this country. Bloody turf wars among drug cartels are on the rise, and the public lives in fear of stray bullets. The netherworld of crime has emerged more powerful than ever, in recent times. Some years ago, even the toughest in the underworld would shudder at the prospect of being taken to the CID headquarters, which had earned notoriety for defenestration, among other things, but today it is the other way around; the CID is gripped by a gnawing fear of being attacked by dangerous criminals.

The CID has informed court that acting on a tip-off that a criminal gang was planning to overrun its headquarters and whisk away two drug dealers, Harakkata and Kudu Salindu, currently being held there, it had arrested two ex-commandos. The suspects in custody have reportedly revealed that as much as Rs. 01 billion was offered for the operation which was to be conducted by a group of ex-military personnel and some serving commandos. Last month, the CID foiled an underworld bid to free Harakkata from its custody.

Security has been beefed up at the CID headquarters, we are told. Everything possible must be done to prevent criminals from storming the place. But what about the police stations in other parts of the country, especially the ones in far-flung areas? They are without adequate personnel, and extremely vulnerable. It is hoped that action will be taken to ensure their protection as well.

It looks as if crime syndicates were running a parallel government in this country. State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake told Parliament, the other day, that the Southern Province was becoming increasingly ungovernable with underworld characters issuing threats to senior police officers over the telephone from Dubai. A similar situation is prevailing in other parts of the country as well. Members of the business community complain of organised gangs obtaining protection money.

Why the Southern Province has become a hotbed of underworld violence is obvious. The area is awash with narcotics. During the past few days, the Navy has seized huge consignments of narcotics concealed in fishing craft. It found 219 kg of heroin in a trawler in the seas off Matara. The street value of the drug haul is over Rs. 4.5 billion. Two days before, the Navy had intercepted a fishing craft with over 212 kg of heroin and ‘Ice’ (crystal methamphetamine) with a street value of Rs. 4 billion, in the seas off Galle. Narcotics trade is the root cause of the scourge of organised crime throughout the country. So far this year, the Navy alone has seized many consignments of narcotics including heroin, ‘Ice’, Hashish and Kerala cannabis and they have an estimated street value of Rs. 21 billion. It is hoped that all those who take part in successful anti-narcotics operations will be adequately rewarded.

The need for all military deserters to be arrested cannot be overstated; most hitmen working for criminal gangs are former security forces personnel. The ordinary policemen are no match for them. The government should consider increasing the strength of the STF and retraining other police personnel to face threats from organised criminals.

The government has announced a plan to set up an ‘Anti-Narcotic Command’ to prevent drug smuggling by enabling the armed forces and state intelligence agencies to collaborate with their international counterparts in conducting anti-narcotics operations. The government may go ahead with that plan, but, most of all, the police and the armed forces must be given a free hand to neutralise the underworld, and care should be exercised to safeguard the integrity of the narcotics samples sent for testing. The drug Mafia has infiltrated all state institutions, and there have been instances where drug samples were tampered with.

It is high time the government shifted its focus from crushing democratic protests to combating crime. The police have succeeded in curbing the democratic freedoms of the Opposition activists, trade unionists, university students and others, but criminals are enjoying unbridled freedom.