There have been 28 incidents of shooting, out of which 16 were carried out by organised criminal groups during the past three months, Police Media Spokesman, SSP Buddhika Manathunga says.SSP Manathunga said that the police had solved 10 of those attacks carried out by the organised criminal groups and arrested 57 suspects, along with three firearms.

He added that underworld groups clashed with each other often, and the intensity of those clashes remained a concern.

“When one compares shooting incidents in 2023 and 2024, there is a slight decrease. There were 120 incidents of shooting in 2023, out of which 65 were carried out by organised gangs. In 2024, the number is 99 so far, criminal gangs were involved in 55 of these,” he said.

People talk about an increase in violent criminal activities during the past few years. This is mainly due to increased media coverage, he said.

“However, we must admit that the brutality of these crimes has intensified. Think of the killing of five people in Tangalle in early 2024 and the killing of a Buddhist monk in Malwathuhiripitiya a few days later,” he said.

There is a lot of violence between armed gangs because they compete against each other for territory and higher stakes in the drug business. “Whenever the police or security forces carry out large raids, criminal groups think that we are acting based on a tip-off by a rival group. In recent weeks we have uncovered a lot of drugs, and criminal groups believe that their drugs were detected because of tip-offs by rival gangs,” he said.

SSP Manathunga said they had secured 188 Interpol red notices on people who had skipped bail and fled the country. Out of these 63 are members of organised crime gangs, he said.