• Six grenade attacks recorded this year

The Police are stepping up efforts to seize hand grenades and other heavy weapons as organised criminal gangs increasingly turn to explosives that are easier to carry than heavier firearms, said Police Spokesman and Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) F U Wootler.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (13), he said stern action would be taken against people found carrying or possessing weapons. "Large teams, including the Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel, have been deployed as part of the crackdown. The Police have also expanded their operations to locate grenades and other weapons left behind from Sri Lanka’s 30-year war that have yet to be recovered."

He also rejected claims circulating in the media that hand grenades are easily available on the black market, saying such reports were merely “gossip”. “We have not received any clue as such of grenades being easily available in the black market. We have confronted a 30-year war and now those weapons are circulating in the country. It is a challenge for Sri Lanka. So far, there are many detected and little by little we are in the process of capturing these remaining weapons with the perpetrators,” he said.

Six grenade attacks have been carried out by organised criminal gangs in Sri Lanka so far this year. The most recent incident to draw public attention was a hand grenade attack on a home in Dehiwala in which two children were killed. Police have stated the house was allegedly targeted by mistake.