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| Sunday, 2 June 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Police bare underworld empire by S. Selvakumar Kaduwela Vasantha, the notorious underworld figure who was gunned down on Vesak Poya Day along with six other gangsters and Karate Dhammika and his gang who were arrested over the killings earned around Rs. 60 million a month through extortion money from legal and illegal business ventures, Police investigations have revealed. "This is only the tip of the iceberg, it could be much more", a senior police source involved in the investigations told the 'Sunday Observer'. The two gangs were extorting large sums of money from casino owners, big time drug peddlers, club owners, liquor shops, foreign employment agents and from wholesale traders in Pettah, investigators have found out. Police sources said that so far very few people have come forward to help investigations and some others are yet to reveal how much they have coughed up to these two gangs. "Many are reluctant to come out with the truth fearing that the Police would come to know their source of earning large sums of money since all such earnings were through illegal means", the same source pointed out. Kaduwela Vasantha along with his gangsters was on the way to Nawagamuwa Police station to report to them weekly on a court order when they were dragged out of their vehicle by Karate Dhammika's gang in Army and police uniforms. They were later ordered to board another vehicle, taken to a lonely spot and gunned down. Three police teams working on various clues traced the killer gang in a hotel in Aluthgama and arrested Karate Dhammika and his gang along with a large haul of arms and ammunition on Wednesday night. The primary reason for the killing was an attempt by Karate Dhammika to capture the extortion market hitherto tapped by Kaduwela Vasantha, investigations revealed. Members of the two rival gangs had been killed in the past and the Vesak Day massacre was the culmination of the long rivalry. Sleuths were hopeful that several more extortionists could be arrested after interrogating the suspects now in custody. |
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