By Saman Indrajith

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday said that security authorities were conducting probes based on reports that five different gangs involved in recent crimes had been acted under one person’s command.

Speaking in Parliament at the end of the debate on expenditure heads of the Ministries of Defence and Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, the President said an analysis of five recent crimes revealed that except for the Minuwangoda shooting incident, the others had been carried out by five gangs. There was suspicion they acted simultaneously under a single command. Additionally, there were concerns that similar activations could occur in Batticaloa and the Northern Province, as such groups were previously established by past regimes to operate on command, the President said.

The President said that the coordinated attacks appears to be part of a well-organized plot at a time when some hoped the government would collapse due to economic crisis, etc.

The NPP supported the abolition of the Prevention of Terrorism (PTA), but it would only do so until a robust legal framework is established to tackle extremism and organized crime, president Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday in parliament.

If organized criminal and racist/extremist groups operate in a country, it is not an ‘ordinary’ situation and a new law is needed to deal with them, he said.

“We were opposed to the PTA from 1979. we have not changed our ways. However, if the normal laws are not adequate to deal with organized criminal and racist/extremist groups, we need new laws. We are taking steps to establish a new set of rules,” he said.

Racism and extremism are the two main reasons why Sri Lankan national security was threatened in the past, he said.

“We will not let these trends grow,” he said.

Organized crime groups are not just a collective of criminals. They have been allowed to grow for decades, with the proactive support of politicians.

“Some politicians are now shedding tears about crime. I would like to remind them who nurtured these people,” he said.

Because of political patronage, some individuals attached to institutions that had been established to fight crime also joined these criminal groups. Several police officers have been arrested over recent underworld related assassinations, he said. Some police officers have sold their weapons to the organized groups, the president said.

“This is why 73 T-56 weapons fell into the hands of criminal groups from an army camp. 35 have been recovered. This didn’t happen during our tenure. There was an investigation into this incident before we came into power, but powerful politicians stopped this investigation. The second son of a president received seven licences firearms from the state,” he said.

Before the NPP came into power the country was headed towards a criminal state, he said. A large number of professionals have become affiliated with these powerful criminals, he said.

“In some cases, lawyers surround criminals when they receive bail and do not leave his side until he returns home. What can we do about this? There are two options. One is we can join hands with these criminal groups like those before us. The second option is to take these criminals on and crush them and this is the option we will take,” he said.

Dissanayake also said that they are cleaning up the police. A number of transfers are taking place and despite what the opposition says, none of these transfers are politically motivated, he said.

“We are getting intelligence information about some policemen who do not do their duty to tackle crime. If they are acting in cahoots with criminals, shouldn’t we take steps to put an end to it? We need to crush the network of corrupt policemen,” he said.

By Saman Indrajith

Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, speaking in parliament on Friday, gave a breakdown of expenses incurred during the three state visits by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in response to claims that these visits could not be undertaken with 1.8 million rupees as stated by the government.

Jayatissa said Rs. 1.2 million was spent on the President’s visit to India, Rs. 386,000 on the China visit, and Rs. 279,970 on the Dubai visit.

He explained that the President had received free air tickets for the China and Dubai visits, while Rs. 386,000 was spent on air tickets for the India trip.

The total expenses borne by the Presidential Secretariat for the India visit amounted to Rs. 1,222,000, including the air tickets. “This sum also covered plaques presented to state leaders,” Jayatissa said.

He further stated that President Dissanayake was allocated a per diem of USD 2,055 for the China visit and USD 960 for the Dubai visit, but he returned the entire amount to the Presidential Secretariat.

Jayatissa said opposition MPs could not comprehend how President Dissanayake managed three foreign visits for Rs. 1.8 million, because they had come to believe that it is acceptable for a head of state to waste collosal amounts of public

“These MPs have no problem with formee President Mahinda Rajapaksa spending Rs. 3,572 million on overseas trips during his tenure.

He noted that the Rs. 3,572 million represented only the expenses borne by the Presidential Secretariat, with additional costs covered by various ministries.

“We will disclose the full amount spent by ministries on foreign visits,” he added.