An uptick in shootings is spreading terror in our streets. The killings have been attributed to a turf war between rival gangs and they follow a pattern; a duo arrives on a motorcycle, the pillion rider disembarks, opens fire and gets back in the saddle and escapes.
Since January 1, eight shootings related to underworld gangs and contract killings have taken place across the island, with the majority being reported from around Colombo city. The shootings have claimed the lives of six persons.
The first gang-related shooting in 2025 was reported from Weligama, while two other shootings were reported from Attidiya-Badowita and Mount Lavinia, Kohuwela and Mannar.
CCTV cameras
Private CCTV cameras has lent a whole new perspective to these crimes. In July last year, the shooting and killing of businessman Surendra Wasantha Perera, known as “Club Wasantha” and another person during the opening of a tattoo parlour in Athurugiriya was captured on several security cameras. The gunmen appeared at the entrance and proceeded to fire at the people inside akin to something out of an action movie.
According to Police data, there were 104 shootings reported in 2024 that claimed 63 lives leaving 46 injured.
During a televised discussion on Tuesday (21), President Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke about the situation and said, “There is more to it than what meets the eye. A vicious criminal society operates behind the neon-lit streets and bustling marketplaces”.
The President said that well-known criminals were operating from abroad. “We have issued red notices on 65 of them and are negotiating to extradite them. There is another group operating within prisons. We will soon transport them to a militarised facility where they won’t be able to run their networks. This decision was taken during a recent Security Council meeting”, he said. Law enforcement authorities have stepped up their operations in response. The Police have deployed Special Task Force (STF) teams to six police stations in Colombo to help curb the rising wave of shootings.
The STF is usually stationed in and outside Colombo and only deployed during emergencies. However, this will be the first time that the STF will be deployed at regular police stations.
Police Media Spokesperson SSP Buddhika Manatunga said serious attention has been paid to the recent shootings. He also said that mobile patrols will be increased and emergency roadblocks will be set up round- the- clock in areas where there is high gang activity.
SSP Manatunga said these shootings are a result of long-standing rivalry between gangs over the drug trade and it is not conceivable that the lives of the public are at risk.
However, he said that these incidents were not ‘Chicago-style’ shootings where innocent people were involved and instead were solely carried out by members of organised gangs and were deliberate killings.
President Dissanayake told a public event last Sunday (19) that 73 T56 assault rifles from an Army camp had fallen into the hands of gangsters and that the authorities have successfully recovered 38 of the stolen weapons, while the remaining firearms were still unaccounted. Thirteen soldiers were apprehended in connection with the incident.
Not ‘Chicago-style’ shootings
The President also blamed the previous administration for the prevailing lapse in security. This stance was echoed in Parliament this week by Public Security Minister, Ananda Wijepala. He said that while the armed forces and the Police were carrying out a monumental service to the country, a few persons were damaging the image of the great service carried out by the Forces. “An Army Major, six other rankers, a Civil Security officer and a Police officer have been arrested during recent investigations, alongside 15 members of organised gangs and another 15 who aided them”, he said.
According to the Global Crime Index’s 2023 report, the direct or indirect involvement of state-embedded actors in criminal markets is widespread in Sri Lanka. “These actors are accused of collaborating with criminal networks to provide security, financial assistance and goods and services to corrupt politicians, in exchange for protection and assistance in maintaining their activities. Moreover, there is anecdotal evidence suggesting the complicity of military officials in drug trafficking,” the report states.
President Dissanayake assured that the new Government was making structural changes to help the Police better combat these organised gangs and liberate the country from crime. “At a recent press conference the IGP said, citing his years of experience that the reason crime grew to such an extent in this country was due to political patronage. I promise you that this is not the case with our Government. The Police will not come under political pressure. The Police have a duty to protect law and order,” he said while lauding the members of the Tri-Forces and the Police for putting their lives on the line to fight crime. Some Governments in other countries were taking a hard stance against organised crime. Since 2019, El Salvador recorded a dramatic decline in organised crime after President Nayib Bukele and his Government declared a state of emergency against the years of violence brought on by drug cartels in the Central American nation. The Salvadorean crackdowns resulted in the country reporting its lowest homicide rate in decades. In 2021, the homicide rate reached the lowest it has been since the Salvadoran Civil War which ended in 1992, with 18 homicides per 100,000 people.
Following his inaugural speech on January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order designating cartels and other organisations as foreign terrorist organisations and specially designated global terrorists; naming two gangs in particular that operate in the United States: the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran MS-13. Using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the U.S. Government could take steps to check the financial networks of these gangs, he said.
Sri Lanka finds itself at a critical juncture in its battle against organised crime. With gang-related shootings becoming alarmingly frequent, the Government faces an uphill task to restore law and order.
President Dissanayake’s pledge to remove political interference from law enforcement is a step in the right direction. However, tackling systemic corruption and addressing the complicity of embedded actors remain daunting challenges. The deployment of the STF and proposed structural changes to law enforcement indicate a robust response but the effectiveness of these measures will be the true test of the administration’s resolve.
