Police are conducting investigations to ascertain whether the 21 suspects deported from the United Arab Emirates have links to Sri Lankan politicians.

DIG in charge of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD), Nishantha de Zoysa, said five of the deportees had been identified as hardcore criminals and two were wanted under Interpol Red Notices.

Among those deported are drug traffickers Wanathe Kudu Duminda and Mahawatte Chamara. Police said the two suspects had been arrested during a party in Dubai before being deported.

Investigators said Kudu Duminda is suspected to be the mastermind behind the Borella shooting on August 8, 2025, in which two persons were killed and three others injured. He has been handed over to the Colombo Crime Division for further investigations.

Police said five close associates of the suspect were also among those deported.

Another deportee identified as Raju Aiya, a former Army deserter allegedly linked to organised criminal activities, is also under investigation. Police said the suspects’ connections were being examined through bank account records and telephone data analysis.

Authorities said information gathered so far had helped uncover details relating to several unsolved crimes, including killings reported from different parts of the country.

Mahawatte Chamara has been handed over to the CID for further interrogation.

Police further stated that many of the remaining suspects had been arrested in Dubai over allegations of recording and circulating footage on social media related to missile and drone attacks carried out by Iran in the UAE.

According to investigators, Dubai authorities confiscated cash, gold jewellery and other belongings from the suspects during their detention prior to deportation.

Two women were also among the deportees and were handed over to the respective police stations where cases have been filed against them for further investigations.

DIG de Zoysa said the deportations were carried out through coordinated investigations and diplomatic efforts involving both local and foreign authorities.

He added that between 68 and 70 suspects had so far been repatriated to Sri Lanka under similar operations, while authorities had secured 226 additional Interpol Red Notices against suspects believed to be hiding overseas, including 90 identified organised criminals.

The wanted suspects are believed to be residing in countries including the UAE, India, Indonesia, Russia and Thailand.

Police also disclosed that 272 firearms had been recovered during recent anti-crime operations, including 83 T-56 assault rifles, one M16 rifle, 113 pistols and 75 revolvers.

by Norman Palihawadane

Unprecedented US crackdown:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a policy memo directing that temporary visa holders (such as students, tourists, and temporary workers) who wish to obtain a U.S. Green Card must now return to their home countries and complete the process through consular processing via the U.S. Department of State.

This sweeping policy ended the longstanding practice of “adjustment of status” from inside the United States, requiring applicants to leave the country while their paperwork is processed abroad, US based sources told The Island, adding that quite a number of Sri Lankans would be affected.

Key details of new policy:

Who it affects: Noncitizens on temporary visas currently living in the U.S. who wish to permanently adjust their status to Lawful Permanent Residents.

Where to apply: Applicants will be required to leave the United States and wait for their applications to be processed at a U.S. embassy or consulate in their country of origin.

Exceptions: USCIS has indicated that adjustment of status from within the U.S. will now only be granted in limited “extraordinary circumstances,” evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Prior Actions: This does not apply to noncitizens who already hold valid, active Green Cards

Annually about a million people apply for green cards and half of those apply from within the U.S. to change their status while they are living here, a former USCIS official said.

Sources said that immigrants seeking a green card will have to leave the country and apply at an embassy or consulate abroad. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said last Friday that people seeking a change in status must do so through consular processing outside of the country “except in extraordinary circumstances”.

This was in line with Trump administration’s efforts to curtail illegal immigration – closes a loophole that had allowed visa holders and visitors to apply for a green card while still in the US, sources said.

Critics of the policy say the longstanding system allowed families to stay together during the lengthy application process.

The new method could also make it difficult or impossible for some immigrants who leave the country in hopes of gaining a green card to return.

The USCIS policy memo states that people such as students, temporary workers or people on tourist visas need to go through the Department of State from outside of the US.

“When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the US illegally after being denied residency,” USCIS said, making the system “fairer and more efficient”.

On X, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, said: “The era of abusing our nation’s immigration system is over.”

 “From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a statement. “When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally after being denied residency.”

The statement said that those who come to America on non-immigrant visas, including students, temporary workers and tourists, are expected to be in the United States for a short time and for a specific purpose.

“Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over. Their visit should not function as the first step in the Green Card process,” Kahler said.

“Following the law allows the majority of these cases to be handled by the State Department at U.S. consular offices abroad and frees up limited USCIS resources to focus on processing other cases that fall under its purview, including visas for victims of violent crime and human trafficking, naturalization applications, and other priorities,” he said in the statement.

He said this process would “make our system fairer and more efficient.”

Former USCIS official Doug Rand said that in a typical year, 1 million people apply for green cards and half of those apply from within the U.S. to change their status while they are living here.

“The purpose of this policy is exclusion,” Rand said in a statement. “Remember that Trump has banned people from over 100 countries from returning to the U.S., so forcing them to go abroad for consular processing is no pathway at all.”

Gold jewellery worth millions of rupees was stolen from the relic chamber of the Hanthana Sandagiri Maha Seya on Saturday.

Police said the suspects fled with the gold ornaments following the burglary at the temple complex.

Three special police teams, supported by K9 units, had been deployed to track down the suspects, HQI Rasika Sampath Pathirana said.

Officers from the Police Intelligence Unit, Crimes Division and the Divisional Crime Investigation Unit have also been deployed to trace the gang responsible for the theft.

The investigation is being carried out under the supervision of Senior DIG Lalith Pathinayake, DIG Sudath Masinghe and SSP Anuruddha Bandara Hakmana.

by SK Samaranayake