The game given by 'Batuwatte Chamara' with the son of teledrama actor 'Appuwa' is revealed

Manoj Suranga Liyanage alias 'Batuwatte Chamara', a powerful underworld criminal and drug trafficker who was brought to Sri Lanka via India by a special team of the Criminal Investigation Department while hiding in Azerbaijan, is currently being extensively questioned by the Colombo Crimes Division. Senior police officers are confident that the investigations conducted on him will reveal a lot of information related to a controversial shooting and the abduction of a secret file that occurred on May 17 last year.

It has been identified that the shooting at the jeep carrying Thushitha Halloluwa, a former Executive Director of the National Lotteries Board and former Director General of Public Relations for former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and lawyer Dinesh Dodangoda, was orchestrated by this suspect. Preliminary investigations have confirmed that Batuwatte Chamara and Chamila, the son of 'Appuwa', a teledrama actor from Kopikade, jointly planned this attack from Dubai. The shooter and the motorcyclist involved in this incident were previously arrested and confessed to the police that Chamara and his associates had instructed them to carry out the shooting in a manner that would not harm human lives.

This 48-year-old suspect, a resident of the Ragama, Batuwatte area, has now been handed over to the Colombo Crimes Division for further investigations under a 72-hour detention order under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Security forces have already confirmed that he has operated a large-scale drug network and numerous illegal activities within the country, maintaining close ties with powerful organized criminals such as Ganemulla Sanjeewa, Kehelbaddara Padme, and Commando Salintha.

Upon examining his criminal history, it has been confirmed that he was the one who completely orchestrated the transportation network of 100 kilograms of heroin and 100 kilograms of 'ice' drug, seized by excise officers on December 06, 2020, from Dubai. The importation of the said drug consignment into the country and the direction of the four suspects involved also occurred with his intervention. Furthermore, the police have revealed that this 'Batuwatte Chamara' is behind the incident where a person was shot dead on December 31, 2023, in the Grandpass area, stemming from a drug trafficking operation.

This suspect, directly involved in numerous large-scale murders and property damages, also acted as the main planner in the crime of shooting and killing a woman allegedly involved in drug trafficking and a three-wheeler driver in the Grandpass area on July 25, 2024. Furthermore, serious charges have been leveled against him regarding the incident where he deployed his followers to shoot and damage the house of another underworld member residing in Vidiya Mawatha area within the Kandana Police Division on December 13, 2024.