(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan Police have offered huge cash rewards for persons providing information on illegal firearms in the possession of organized criminal gang members, a senior official said on Friday.
As many as 46 contact numbers have also been made available to the public in order to provide the relevant information and the identities of informants will be kept confidential, the official said.
The cash rewards range from Rs 500,000 to Rs. 300,000 depending on the calibre of the weapon.
The latest development comes amidst an ongoing anti-narcotic and crime operation throughout the country.
Nearly 75,000 persons mainly drug addicts and petty criminals have so far been rounded since the start of the operation.
The special operation known as ‘Yukthiya’ or ‘Justice’ was launched on Christmas Eve last year in order to crackdown mainly on criminal elements and drug traffickers.
However despite the operation there has been an upsurge in criminal slayings with some 14 persons being killed and an equal number injured in shooting incidents in several parts of the country since the start of this year.
The police have also set up, 20 special police teams consisting of personnel from the State intelligence agencies, the local police and even elite commandos from the Special Task Force (STF) aimed at targeting known crime gangs.
