Sampath in Hot Water: From Stolen Rice to “Ice”

If Colombo’s underworld had a hall of fame, Sampath Manamperi would be vying for a permanent seat. Already cooling his heels in custody over the notorious Middeniya “Ice containers” case, the Colombo High Court has just dropped another bomb: an arrest warrant tying him back to a 2009 armed rice heist.

Yes, rice. Before meth labs and million-dollar smuggling, the gossip grapevine remembers when Manamperi and three buddies allegedly pulled off a low-budget “underworld special”: dressing up as cops, stopping a Tamil businessman’s truck near Narahenpita Junction, and making off with a load of rice, a bundle of cash, and a humble mobile phone. Total value: Rs. 1 million.

Fast forward 16 years, and the ghosts of that dusty robbery file have come back to bite. High Court Judge Rashantha Godawela ordered that Manamperi be hauled in to face indictments — even though he’s already locked up thanks to the CID’s Ice-busting operations.

As if that wasn’t enough gossip fuel, another co-accused, Neranjan Perera, also skipped court. His excuse? He’s in remand too — caught with Ice in Matara. Looks like the whole rice-to-Ice crew never left the fast lane.

The Attorney General has lined up seven indictments in the rice robbery case, while investigators stitch together Manamperi’s drug empire links in the present.

One senior lawyer leaving court quipped: “In 2009 it was rice, in 2025 it’s Ice — seems Sampath’s taste for grains just got more refined.”

The High Court isn’t laughing though. Both cases are now moving in parallel, and Colombo’s gossip mill is clear: more skeletons may yet tumble out of Sampath’s closet.