Taking into account the evolving nature of crimes, the Police Department is also changing and improving its approaches to taking legal action against criminals, the Police said.

This was noted by Police Media Spokesperson, Senior Superintendent of Police Buddhika Manatunga while speaking at a press briefing held yesterday (5), where he stressed that the Police is seeking improvement in diplomatic-level assistance required to have local wanted-criminals residing in foreign countries extradited. According to him, talks are underway to bring back over 20 criminals who have been arrested by various countries’ law enforcement authorities based on the red warrants issued per requests from Sri Lanka. He assured that those suspects will be brought to the country and that legal action will be taken against them.

Meanwhile, speaking of the prevailing crime wave, he added that so far in 2025, a total of 42 shootings including 28 organised crime shootings have been reported while 94 suspects have been arrested in connection with those crimes. In addition, three Type-56 firearms and three pistols linked to these shootings, as well as 11 T-56 firearms and 23 other forms of firearms unrelated to this year’s crimes have been found. He opined that most of these shootings appear to be related to drugs.

In response to allegations of a lack of action on the part of the Police, Manatunga said that although a specific timeframe cannot be declared, the ongoing anti-organised crime operations are expected to curb crimes.