The Ministry of Defence says that the special search operations initiated in Ragama, Kandana and Wattala areas will be carried out further.

The security forces and police personnel had been conducting the relevant operations in these areas since last night (04).

Accordingly, a Defence Ministry Spokesperson told Ada Derana that the relevant operations will continue in the coming days.

Several shooting incidents were reported from Ragama and Kandana areas in the past couple of days, in which two persons were killed and several more were left injured.

Due to this, the Ministry of Defense took steps to tighten security in these areas and launched special search operations.

Sri Lanka Police, the Police Special Task Force (STF) and the tri-forces personnel joined forces for this operation.

Meanwhile, over 300 suspects were arrested over various criminal activities during the operations carried out last night alone and legal action was initiated against more than 700.

It is also reported that the relevant police stations are recording further statements from the arrested suspects.

In addition to several recent incidents, a number of shooting incidents were reported in Ragama, Kandana, Wattala and the surrounding areas, and certain underworld activities had also seen a spike in these areas.

Information was also received by the police and security forces that drug peddlers were conducting their business centred around these relevant areas.

These operations are reportedly being carried out to ensure security in the relevant areas, taking the prevailing situation into consideration. It further noted that similar special operations are expected to be conducted island-wide in the future, and urged the public to extend their full support and cooperation to these efforts.