Minister alleges that Jaffna VIP dodged narcotics search operation

The ongoing Police crackdown on underworld operations and drug mafia across the country has turned out to be something that comes up in most of the social gatherings these days as Sri Lankans prepare to welcome a New Year.

Even at the Jaffna District Coordination Committee meeting which was held on Thursday, the topic came up focusing on Police operations in the region which saw hundreds of individuals being picked up by Police for possessing narcotics, drinking and driving and other offences.

However, most of them were released on Police bail within twenty-four hours and only a few were remanded. In this backdrop, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devanada who co-chaired the meeting, raised clarification from senior Police officers, about an incident where an influential individual in Jaffna with links to higher-ups in the government ranks dodged the search at his residence in Jaffna despite being arrested in Colombo for smuggling narcotics from Colombo to Jaffna recently.

Minister Devananda asked the senior Police officers why Police officers were not allowed to carry out search operations at the Jaffna residence of that particular individual and why they were recalled subsequently.

When the Jaffna Police Superintendent responded that there was no such incident, the Minister shot back that he could have been unaware but his colleague--the HQI who was seated next to him--might be in the know.

The HQI responded that Police officers were indeed allowed to search the house. Then the Minister asked that search was allowed only for two hours after they initially visited the house and in the meantime “some of the things were taken outside.”

When some individuals representing civil society requested to reveal the identity, the Minister declined to do so by merely saying “If I do, that would be politicised.”