Sri Lankan Public Security Minister Tiran Alles told Parliament on Thursday that eight gunmen allegedly involved in several recent shooting incidents both fatal and otherwise in the Western and Southern Provinces have been arrested.
He said that 62 shooting incidents were reported to have been carried out by organised criminal gangs during this year.
At least 31 persons were killed and another 37 were injured in the incidents, Alles told the House.
According to police the bulk of the incidents were related to turf control by the drug mafia where its leaders are known to operate from overseas.
Earlier this month a hit man working for a drug lord based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was arrested shortly after arrival at the Bandaranayke International Airport.
Police said the suspect was a person of interest in a police probe into an alleged murder and several cases of extortion.
Dozens of alleged gangsters wanted by police are known to have taken up a safe haven in foreign climes from where they continue to operate their crime syndicates in Sri Lanka.
