Batwatte Chamara's hidden weapons found in a cemetery

Based on the confession of an organized criminal, who was arrested while hiding in a foreign country and brought back to his homeland, the police have succeeded in discovering a cache of weapons buried in the Batuwatta Public Cemetery, which falls under the Ragama Police Division. The Colombo District Crime Division states that what was found, hidden underground inside a plastic pipe, was a foreign-manufactured pistol, its magazine, and 24 live rounds of ammunition.

This information was revealed after extensive questioning of Liyanage Manoj Suranga, also known by the alias 'Batuwatte Chamara'. He was arrested by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department while hiding in Azerbaijan and brought back to this country. After being handed over to the Colombo District Crime Division on May 5th last year, he is currently being held and further questioned under a second 90-day detention order obtained from the Ministry of Defence.

The police state that the identification number of the firearm recovered from the cemetery is in an unclear condition. However, investigators have been able to uncover information about numerous underworld activities through previous interrogations of this suspect. The police confirm that five other organized criminals, including Gampaha Osman, were arrested in connection with the murder of Ganemulle Sanjeewa, an organized criminal and drug trafficker, based on information revealed by this suspect.

This operation and future investigative activities are being carried out under the instructions of the Director of the Colombo Crime Division, Senior Superintendent of Police. Further investigations into this matter are being conducted by a team including Chief Inspector Kapila Kariyawasam, OIC of the Organized Crime Investigation Unit, under the direct supervision of Chief Inspector Asanka Suraweera, the OIC of the division.