An Army Major, six other ranks, a policeman and 15 others allegedly engaged in organised crimes have been arrested over recently reported crimes, Minister of  Public Security Ananda Wijepala informs the Parliament today (21).

Delivering a statement in the parliament today, the Minister provided further details of the recent arrests, stating:

“When we examine the crimes that have occurred since September 23, 2024, we find that few military personnel were involved in these incidents while in active duty.”
“Over the past couple of days, an Army Major has been arrested. Six other ranks from the Army have also been apprehended. A police officer has been taken into custody. A civil security officer has been arrested. Fifteen organised criminals, along with another 15 individuals who aided and abetted these crimes, have been detained.”

In addition to these arrests, Minister Wijepala reported that numerous weapons had been recovered since the current government took office, including:

T-56 assault rifles - 07
Pistols - 10
Revolvers - 14
Gunpowder firearms - 461
12-bore firearms - 58
Homemade ‘Galkatas’ firearms - 13
Repeaters -02

Furthermore, within the past two months, authorities have seized significant quantities of narcotics. This includes:

354 kg of heroin
3,847 kg of Kerala cannabis
3.8 kg of cocaine
181.9 kg of hashish
759 kg of crystal methamphetamine (‘Ice’)

Minister Wijepala also announced that the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) will be re-established next week. 

Accordingly, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will hand over the financial crime-related cases from the 29,000 case files currently in its position to the FCID, he added.