Some 20 special handpicked police teams will be deployed throughout Sri Lanka starting on Tuesday in order to stem the rise in underworld criminal activities where at least 36 persons have been killed since the start of this year.
The teams that will comprise personnel from State intelligence and elite commandos from the Special Task Force (STF) who will be tasked to assist the local police in the ongoing island-wide anti-crime operation in the country that started on Christmas Eve last year, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon said.
The decision was taken following an alarming rise in organized crimes mainly in the Western and Southern provinces of the country over the past few weeks, he said.
The ongoing anti-crime operation known as ‘Yukthiya’ or Justice has seen thousands of persons being arrested, the majority of them drug addicts or small-time narcotic traders while known gang leaders have escaped with many of them believed to have fled the country.
However rights groups, lawyers and others have cautioned the relevant authorities against police excesses including custodial deaths during such special anti-crime operations and they have sought accountability within a legal framework.
However the Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has repeatedly insisted that the ongoing anti-crime operation will continue despite protests from different quarters and also accused certain lawyers of appearing on behalf of known criminals in exchange for large fees.
The lawyers for their part have said it is a part of their professional obligations to defend a client irrespective of the nature of the charges, criminal or otherwise.
