• Police blames drug abuse

BY Dinitha Rathnayake   Sri Lanka is presently experiencing a sharp rise in robberies taking place in broad daylight, with The Morning investigation team receiving several complaints from the general public who have recently become victims of robbery. Speaking to The Morning, one victim from Kelaniya said that his mobile phone and motorcycle were robbed on the same day, and that he is unable to trace them as of yet. Sharing his experience, another from Koggala said: “We were robbed in a hotel while sleeping; all our money and a few other things were missing. Also, another four rooms were robbed on the same night. They took wallets outside the room and took all the money from them. They got into the rooms through the front doors. It looks like the employees helped them rob tourists.” Another victim from Hokandara said: “I was so tired after my night shift and came in the morning to sleep. I’m an Ayurvedic doctor and live in a rented apartment at Hokandara. I heard some noise in my room while I was asleep. When I opened my eyes, a stranger was trying to take the money from my wallet. I tried to scream, but he covered my face with a cloth and asked me not to shout. When I agreed to his demands, he took my money and also asked for the chain that I was wearing. I had no choice but to give him my chain.” Speaking to The Morning, Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa said that drug abuse is the chief cause behind these cases of robbery. With close to 200 murders and 1,000 robberies in the first four months of 2022, experts have opined that crime rates will increase due to the economic crisis. According to the data from the Police Department, while there were 522 murders, 2,263 robberies and 6,813 house break-ins reported in 2021, there have been 183 murders, 948 robberies and 2,224 house break-ins in the first few months of 2022 alone. There has also been an increase in the number of cases of plantation equipment theft of over Rs. 25,000 and cattle theft and property theft of over Rs. 25,000 during the first four months of 2022, compared to the corresponding period of 2021. According to the Macro trends website, Sri Lanka's crime rate and statistics for 2019 was 3.48, a 43.72% increase from 2018. In 2018, it was 2.42, a 5.26% increase from 2017. In 2017, it was 2.3, an 8.77% decline from 2016 and in 2016, it was 2.52, an 8.25% increase from 2015. Criminal lawyer Harshana Nanayakkara, speaking to The Morning, asserted that one of the main reasons for a rise in crime rates was the direct impact of the economic woes on the nation and its people, adding that the frequency of such incidents would only increase. The second reason he cited was the lack of law and order, mainly due to the interference by interested parties of the political and social elites.