Scribes from hell

Friday 21st August, 2020

Members of the fourth estate never miss an opportunity to haul roguish characters among politicians, public officers et al over the coals, and rightly so. They have amongst them those who even consider themselves the custodians of public morality so much so that they are accused of moral grandstanding. During the last few weeks, they have been inveighing against the police, the Government Analyst’s Department, the Department of Prisons for corruption and other such illegal practices. Now, thanks to some rogues in the garb of journalists, media practitioners find themselves in a situation where one can ask them to put their house in order before treating others to lectures on ethics, morality, honesty, accountability, etc.

A journalist working for a newspaper (not a UNL publication) has been arrested for his alleged involvement in transporting a stock of illegal weapons, numbering over 100 from Naula (in the Matale District) to Colombo. Most of these weapons are believed to have been delivered to underworld characters. He has reportedly abused his media accreditation card to carry out this illegal operation during lockdowns, and investigators are believed to be looking for two other journalists. He is being held on a detention order and questioned.

The police, especially their elite commandos, have acted commendably well in fighting the underworld during the last few months. They have conducted very successful operations, netted dangerous criminals and seized hauls of drugs and arms. Last month, they raided an underworld armoury, in Pitipana, Homagama, where a dozen assault rifles were found. Drug baron cum contract killer, Kosgoda Tharaka, is the owner of this arms cache, according to the police. It is this operation that shed light on the above-mentioned journalist’s alleged involvement in arms trafficking. Investigators are looking for the rest of the firearms and RPG launchers. These arms originally belonged to the LTTE. How many such weapons have found their way into the other parts of the country is not known.

Why was such a huge stock of firearms and RPG launchers delivered to the underworld, all of a sudden? Were criminal gangs planning a destabilisation campaign in retaliation for the ongoing operations against the underworld? Were they planning high-profile political assassinations?

It may be recalled that Kosgoda Tharaka was among the underworld figures who threatened a group of prisons officers in the Boosa jail, last month. Many dangerous criminals are kept in that state pen, and some of them are Wele Suda, Bloemendhal Sanka, Kanchipani Imran, Ganemulla Sanjeewa, Army Sampath, Dematagoda Chaminda, Podi Lassie and Pitigala Kewma. Most members of their private armies are at large and have among them highly trained, trigger-happy military deserters. Kosgoda Tharaka minced no words when he told the prison officers who met him that his men had enough weapons and were capable of killing anyone at will. He also issued veiled threats to the Defence Secretary and the President, according to what one gathers from media reports. He has said he is above the police. Pitigala Kewma and Podi Lassie also turned aggressive and threatened the prison officers, we are told. All those who work for these criminals must be brought to justice.

Crime syndicates are known to have their moles in almost all state institutions, and this has made the battle against the underworld frustratingly difficult. They have not spared the media either if the aforesaid firearms trafficking operation is any indication. There could be more to this problem than meets the eye, and the extent to which criminals have infiltrated the media is to be figured out. The sooner, the better.

It is incumbent upon all media institutions to cooperate with the police fully and help identify the journalists who have sold their souls to criminals. These shameful elements that have brought the fourth estate into disrepute and pose a threat to public security must be weeded out. Journalists and their associations must encourage the police to dig deep and expose all scribes with underworld links.