Rise and fall of Prince Colum

The slaying of Prince Colum (34) the most feared underworld figure in the Western province last week sent shock waves through the underworld. Prince was one of the ruthless and malevolent gangsters who showed no mercy on his rivals.

He was allegedly linked to several high profile murders in Colombo and in the suburbs during the past few years. Mere mention of his name sent shivers down the spine of hardened criminals.

A few years ago when police launched a crack down on underworld gangs in Colombo and elsewhere , the top rung gangsters including Kimbulawela Guna and Thelbala fled to India while Prince Colum went underground and continued his mafia operations.

Much later Prince Colum was arrested by the Police in connection with a murder and spent several months in prison. Knowing his past criminal track record Prison officials realised the danger of keeping him at the Welikade remand prison along with other hardened criminals.

So they segregated him from others and transferred him to the Kalutara remand prison where he was held with tight security. Prince Colum was a notorious and a dangerous criminal who had enemies within his own circle. He had fallen foul with other underworld gangs in Colombo in recent times and were at each others throats.

Underworld gangs that function under different mafia bosses have their own agendas. Their motto is to dominate other gangs by resorting to violent repression. They often settle scores by killing rival gang members.

This kind of violence often leads to gang warfare. When it does happen rival gang members start killing each other. This was exactly what happened to Prince Colum, the mafia God Father who started his crime career in 1992.

He was involved in one murder in the Kotahena area and two in the Grandpass area. A murder case was still pending in High Court when he was slain. Police said he was linked to several other murders in Colombo and elsewhere.

Last week was an important day for Sri Lankan cricket enthusiasts who were glued to their television sets from dusk to dawn watching the World Cup Cricket final. So did Prince Colum at his Bloemendhal residence.

After watching the World Cup final with his wife, family members and friends downstairs he later went upstairs to his room to get a little bit of sleep. Towards dawn around 5.30 a.m or so a man brandishing a T-56 automatic rifle rushed upstairs with several others where Prince Colum was sleeping.

As the gunman aimed the firearm at Prince Colum, a burst of fire escaped from his weapon. He fired several rounds emptying several magazines and then escaped in a van parked outside the home.

Prince Colum was seriously wounded in the shooting and was rushed to the Accident ward at the National Hospital Colombo where he was pronounced dead. Later when the Kotahena police visited the murder scene they found more than 20 empty casings of T-56 ammunition.

Prince Colum had a brutal reputation. About 13 years ago the Police Special Strike Force arrested three suspects of the "Prince Colum" gang who were planning to kill five people before the General Election.

The gang members were known as "Chandi", "Chaminda", "Chutta", "Arakku Priyantha" and "Tamil Nadu Podi Kumara" who were close associates of politicians.

They were arrested from Grandpass and Angoda areas and police recovered two T56 weapons, three T56 magazines, 87 bullets, and a locally made 9mm revolver and a .38o revolver that were to be used in the murders. One of the suspects was an army deserter, Police said.

"Prince Colum" was serving a jail term for several murders and robberies whe he planned the five murders inside the jail using mobile phones. He had ordered several key figures to be killed before the elections and had even given instructions where firearms, ammunition and money could be found.

Several years ago gang warfare broke out between Prince Colum's gang and another gang. Chintaka, an underworld gang member loyal to Prince Colum was abducted and killed by gang members who defected from Prince Colum.

The body was found in the railway track in the Bloemendhal area. To avenge the killing of their comrade, members of Prince Colum's gang abducted Sitthy Mohamed Cassim Akbar, a defector and killed him by slashing his throat with a sharp weapon.

A woman scavenging for scraps accidentally found his body dumped in a drain at Bloemendhal road. The Kotahena Police took into custody Prince Colum's brother-in-law and two others in connection with the killing.

At that time Prince Colum, was serving a sentence at the Kalutara Prison. According Police, Prince Colums' gang had thrived on rackets such as forceful ejectment of tenants, and extortion rackets that rake in big money.

OIC Kotahena Police station Chief Inspector Niranjan Abeywardena and OIC Crimes Sub Inspector Athula is investigating the murder of Prince Colum. No one has been arrested so far, police said.

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