Police step up surveillance to arrest gangsters; but key obstacles remain

As concerns grow over the reemergence of sword-carrying gangs in the North, police have stepped up surveillance and intelligence gathering activities to nab the suspects despite many shortcomings and challenges the police face in the north.

Some of the key obstacles that remain unaddressed are the shortage of Tamil- speaking police officer and lack of public trust in police, especially with regard to complaints about criminal activities.

Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) P.P.S.M. Dharmaratne who is in charge of the Northern

Province told the Sunday Times most of the suspects involved in the recent violent incidents had been taken into custody after three police teams were deployed to probe attacks.

“Most of these incidents are isolated ones either involving personal disputes or clashes between gangs. The recent incident in Jaffna was the result of internal gang disputes while the team that carried out the attack in Mullaithivu is from Jaffna. We have arrested most of them and looking for ten more suspects,” DIG Dharmaratne said.

Asked whether these attacks were directed by masterminds, the Northern Police Chief said police investigations were underway to find the elements behind these attacks.

Another senior police officer told the Sunday Times on the condition of anonymity that some of these suspects were closely connected to regional politicians and lawyers.

The senior police official recalled another incident where an attack was carried out on the residence of a man who was abroad but later police investigations revealed that the man hired the sword gang on a contract in order to get political asylum in a foreign country.