By Saman Indrajith and Norman Palihawadane

Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (retd) Sarath Weerasekera has called on police to be vigilant of possible revival of Islamic terrorists, while attending to COVID-19 prevention operations.

Addressing a meeting of senior DIGs and DIGs via zoom on Thursday, the Minister insisted that the police should not let their guard down just because they have been asked to attend the COVID-19 prevention operations.

“The police have to be extra vigilant of possible Islamic terrorist groups to ensure internal security in the country. We know that the police rendered a valuable service in getting rid of the LTTE that had been a major threat to the internal security. However, the scenario is now different because we no longer fight with an easily identifiable enemy. ISIS is an ideology and it is not an easy task to identify the persons who have been indoctrinated. Only the common sign of such people is that they become isolated from others first but later walk on the path from extremism to terrorism. This could be countered but we need the utmost vigilance of the policemen to fight against this latest threat,” the Minister said.

 The Minister thanked the policemen who rendered a dedicated service in the government’s battle against the pandemic. “As per the records, 11,700 police personnel got infected by the virus while discharging their duties and 28 of them died. While fighting against the virus, the police continued to carry out raids and their fight against the underworld without letting the latter to raise its head again. We have two special investigation teams under the supervision of senior DIG crimes. One of them is attending to the affairs pertaining to the underworld activities and the other is working against the drug menace. Both teams have shown impressive achievements. I thank the IGP and all policemen for their services to maintain law and order while struggling against the pandemic, the Minister said.

The retired Navy Chief of Staff also said that he would submit a special Cabinet paper to continue to pay the salaries of police personnel who died from the coronavirus pandemic to their family members till those officers reached their retirement age.

Also present at the meeting were IGP Chandana Wickramaratne and Secretary to the Ministry Maj. Gen. Jagath Alwis.