Halt these killings

The killing of yet another local government politician within two weeks of each other is indeed a matter for grave concern to which the government ought to pay serious attention to. The latest to fall prey to the roaming gunmen is Karandeniya Pradeshiya Sabha Vice Chairman Donald Sampath, a father of three. He was mowed down by a hail of bullets fired from two T56 weapons by twin assassins riding a motor cycle. The victim was killed on the spot and the driver of the vehicle in which he was travelling was injured. The motive for the murder is yet to be revealed. One of the assailants has been arrested by the police while he lay in hospital after been knocked down by the vehicle in a bold move by the driver to harm the assailants. Police believe this to be yet another underworld killing, masterminded by a well known underworld leader who is at large.

Two weeks ago the father of national cricketer Dananjaya De Silva, Dehiwela Mt.Lavinia Municipal Councillor Ranjan De Silva was similarly gunned down outside his residence in yet another underworld contract killing. Police say this killing too was ordered by a well known underworld leader who is presently in Dubai, believed to have fled the country during a STF crackdown on the underworld.

The Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera very often, following similar killings carried out by the underworld, identifies well known underworld leaders by name, to the media, who, according to him, were responsible for carrying out the slayings. This indicates the police to have sound knowledge of the perpetrators and/or well aware of their whereabouts and modus operandi.

Why pray then allow these underworld leaders to remain at large? Why not hunt them down and spare the valuable lives of innocent people if, as SP Gunasekera says, the killings were carried out on the orders of so and so? Why allow these killers, who pose a danger to society, remain on the loose instead of rounding them up? Are we going to hear the name of yet another underworld leader from SP Gunasekera after the next killing and repeated again after another killing?

This government can take ample credit for creating a peaceful climate for citizens to live without fear of being abducted and made to disappear, unlike in the past. But this would come to naught if the people are forced to live in dread not of government sponsored violence but the other forces of evil in society. Hardly a day passes today without a killing committed by the underworld. This is a dangerous trend and if not dealt with promptly could cause a serious erosion of faith by the public in the ability of the law enforcement to afford protection to the citizenry.

It is no exaggeration to say that we are today close to the situation that existed during the bloodletting of the late 80s when the JVP hit squads targeted politicians. The then government of President Premadasa took drastic measures to halt the slide to anarchy by meeting the challenge head on. No doubt, unpleasant things took place in those dark days and innocents fell victim. But the situation was brought under control and the fear psychosis eliminated. The government too should take some drastic measures in this respect. It cannot afford to be playing by the rule book if life and limb of citizens are being threatened by dangerous killers on the prowl. As mentioned, most of the underworld figures are known by their identity to the police. The familiarity by which the Police Media Spokesman rattles out the aliases of these dangerous killers suggests that the whereabouts of the latter are very much in knowledge of the police. Nothing short of an all out war against the underworld would suffice if this dangerous trend is to be arrested.

Today, it is common knowledge that these underworld leaders receive the protection of politicians of all hues. The recent local government elections saw a generous sprinkling of underworld names in the nomination lists of all parties. As we have been saying in these spaces all that the party leaders care is the outcome and towards this end if they have to employ underworld characters to muscle their way to victory, so be it. The police, hence, have been acting coy in dealing with the underworld, due to this factor. The end result is today we have a green eyed monster stalking in our midst engaged in killing sprees.

IGP Pujith Jayasundera should order his men to ignore the orders of politicians when dealing with the underworld. Today, the innocent people are being forced to suffer the consequences of this nexus between the politicians and criminals. There were brave police officers in the past, such as Inspector Rahula Silva and Olympian boxer Sumith Liyanage who stood up to government politicians who tried to interfere in their duties. We need officers of such calibre in the police service today if eliminating the underworld is to be successfully accomplished.