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| Sunday, 29 June 2003 |
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Action plan to combat crime by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE With the recent killing of Dehiwela Intelligence OIC S. Thabrew allegedly by an LTTE hit man who posed as an informant, and the rising crime wave in and around the city, the Cabinet on the recommendation of Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe a high powered committee has been appointed recently to look into serious crime that has plagued the country. The committee is expected to formulate an action plan and make their recommendations to the IGP, to curb serious crime. The committee comprises Secretary Interior Ministry, M.A. Junaid (Chairman) Secretary Justice Ministry, Dhara Wijetilleke, IGP, T.E. Ananadarajah, OPA, representative Jayantha Gunesekera (President Counsel), former IGP, Rudra Rajasingham, Deva Rodrigue from the Joint Business and a nominee of the President. The secretary to the committee is F. Virithamulla. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry too has appointed a committee to look into the killing of army informants in recent times. The Committee consists of Secretary Defence, Austin Fernando, Army Commander Lionel Balagalle and retired senior DIG, Merril Guneratne. During the past few months a number of intelligence officers and informants working at state agencies have been gunned down by the LTTE which has posed a set back to intelligence gathering operations. The three LTTE cadres arrested recently by the Colombo Crime Division at Wellawatte have admitted under in tense interrogation that they have come to assassinate the PLOTE member Mohan. Although they tried to lure Mohan to the Wellawatte beach last month through another EPRLF cadre Mohan did not turn up as arranged and the assassination attempt failed. In the meantime the three LTTE cadres had gone near the Concorde theatre at Dehiwela and had been waiting in ambush expecting Mohan to turn up at a house close by. As Mohan did not turn up they had got into a three wheeler and had travelled towards Kotahena when they were intercepted by the Colombo Crime Division sleuths on a routine motor patrol close to the Savoy theatre. While the sleuths were questioning the three LTTE cadres, one of them swallowed a Cyanide capsule and had to be rushed to the Kalubowila hospital for treatment. However, the doctors managed to save his life and he was subsequently transferred to the Colombo National Hospital for further treatment. The sleuths also found an automatic pistol with a loaded magazine with seven rounds concealed in his waist. An additional magazine with seven rounds of ammunition was also found in his trouser pocket. Meanwhile, the CID searched the lodge where the three LTTE cadres had been staying in Pettah and recovered a vital document purported to have been written by an LTTE intelligence 'boss' named Ramanu in the Wanni on the instructions of LTTE Intelligence Chief, Pottu Amman. Along with the document they also found a photograph of Mohan. The note written in Tamil among other things says that only Ramanu and you all know about the plot in detail. According to police one of the LTTE cadres had found employment in a theatre in Colombo. All three of them were from Batticaloa and had arrived in Colombo six months ago on a mission to assassinate the PLOTe cadre. The Criminal Investigations Department sleuths investigating the killing of army informant Ragupathy by suspected LTTE cadres at Mount Lavinia have traced the Motorcycle used by the assassin. The killing took place around two months ago and the detectives are now on the trail to arrest the suspect, sources said. Around 20 informants are believed to have been done away with by the suspected LTTE cadres, sources said. Intensified police surveillance on the cards Around 5,328 illegal firearms including bombs which were in the possession of underworld gangs have been seized by the police during the past six months. Minister of Interior and Christian Affairs, John Amaratunga, has also said that the upsurge of crime could be attributed to politicians being given access to weapons during the last regime. Minister Amaratunga noted that a number of criminals who were absconding have now been apprehended and taken into custody with the firearms. In 2002 the number of murders and attempted murders were 3,249, but during the past six months only 339 of such cases have been reported, 1,186 cases of rape were reported in 2002 and only 472 rape cases have been reported during the last six months, cases of robbery in the year 2002 were 5,447 but only 1,550 of such cases have been reported within the last six months. According to Minister Amaratunga, the police department has drawn up an effective plan to intensify security operations with more personnel and sophisticated weaponry in the city and the Western province and special operations will continue round-the-clock. The police special operations unit, CID, police intelligence unit will co-ordinate using an additional 25 vehicles and 40 motorcycles. The minister noted that the new security operations carried out by the police will be monitored on a daily basis by him and by the Minister of Defence, Transport and Civil Aviation, Tilak Marapana. |
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