Political rivalry triggers gang warfare in Balapitiya: Police
Security officials are attributing the upsurge in gang- related violence in the Balapitiya area, in the past two weeks, that left 4 dead and 5 injured, to political rivalry coming to the fore as the Local Government (LG) elections draw near.
Police said the three shooting incidents in which four people were killed and five injured, are due to rivalry between an underworld figure identified as 'Taraka' and another named Sujeewa Soysa who is now in Dubai.
“These two are linked to drug peddling, extortion and burglaries including bank robberies, and their rivalry has intensified in recent weeks, leading to attacks on each other’s family members,” said Balapitya Superintendent of Police (SP) Nihal Talduwa.
In the first shooting incident at Yudapitiya in Kosgoda, a man and two of his sons were shot dead and a third son injured, when two men broke into their house and shot them while they slept, on October 29. The dead man is an uncle of Sujeewa Soysa, Police said.
In the other incident, a man named Kapilaratne, who is also a relative of Soysa, was shot dead in his house at Manikgahapitiya.
In a retaliatory attack, members of a gang linked to Soysa, had fired at a vehicle carrying five persons at Batapola, wounding all of them. The injured persons are relatives of the other gang leader Taraka.
Police sources said that close relatives of the two gang members are tipped to contest the upcoming LG elections from rival parties, and the upsurge in the attack could be attributed to such rivalries.
SP Talduwa said five police teams had been deployed to apprehend the gunmen, but there has been no breakthrough so far.
Meanwhile, the Special Task Force (STF) too has joined in to quell the gang violence and apprehend the gang members.
These two are linked to drug peddling, extortion and burglaries including bank robberies, and their rivalry has intensified in recent weeks, leading to attacks on each other’s family members
STF Commandant Senior DIG M. R. Latheef said a team has been dispatched to the area to assist police crackdown on the gang members.