An alleged organised crime figure and drug trafficker known as “Ratmalane Saima” has been arrested in Malaysia along with two other individuals, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday.
The three were taken into custody by Malaysian authorities during an operation carried out in that country. The suspect is alleged to have been involved in organised criminal activity and drug trafficking, and is believed to be an associate of the organised crime figure known as “Kanjipani Imran”.
Ada Derana did not identify the two others arrested, specify where in Malaysia the operation took place, or say whether Sri Lankan police had a role in the arrest. No charges have been reported, and it is not yet clear whether Sri Lanka will seek the suspect’s return.
Part of a wider pattern
The arrest fits a run of actions against Sri Lankan organised crime suspects operating from abroad. Police have repeatedly said that several senior figures in the country’s drug networks direct operations from overseas while remaining beyond the reach of local courts.
“Kanjipani Imran” has been at the centre of that effort for years. LankaNewz reported in April that the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division arrested a 38-year-old man in Ja-Ela identified as an associate of the overseas gang boss. Police have separately rejected claims of a bomb plot attributed to the same network.
Sri Lankan authorities have also worked through foreign counterparts to repatriate wanted suspects. In May, 21 wanted Sri Lankans were deported from Dubai and arrested on arrival at Mattala, among them alleged underworld figures. Public Security officials have said further efforts are under way to trace suspects who fled to the Middle East and South East Asia.
Update — July 31: CID role confirmed, repatriation expected next week
NewsFirst reported on Friday that the three men were arrested in Malaysia by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), filling in a detail Ada Derana’s initial report had left open — that Sri Lankan police were directly involved in the operation rather than being informed of an arrest made solely by Malaysian authorities.
The outlet described all three as associates of the organised crime figure known as “Kanjipani Imran”, and identified “Ratmalane Saima” as a key associate who is believed to have managed the financial operations of the criminal network.
Police said the suspects are expected to be brought back to Sri Lanka next week to face further investigation and legal proceedings. Neither report has named the two other men arrested, and no charges have yet been made public.
Update — August 11: repatriated and handed to Peradeniya Police
The three men were flown back to Sri Lanka on Monday afternoon by a special police team led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Rohan Olugala, and “Ratmalane Saima” was handed over to the Peradeniya Police that night for further investigation.
Police named him as Dhanushka Kaushalya, 41, a resident of Ratmalana who had also lived for periods in Peradeniya and Tissamaharama. The two men arrested alongside him are aged 35 and 31.
The handover to Peradeniya reflects where the outstanding cases against him lie. He is an accused in two matters pending before the Kandy Magistrate’s Court, both within the Peradeniya Police Division: the alleged abduction at gunpoint and assault of a man in 2014, and the fatal shooting of another person in 2016. An open warrant had been issued against him for failing to appear in those cases.
His record goes back further. Police said he was arrested in 2003 over a robbery in the Mount Lavinia Police Division and later indicted before the Colombo High Court, and was arrested again in 2007 by Mount Lavinia Police for allegedly possessing a hand grenade.
What investigators say he did for the network
Ada Derana reported that investigations have indicated Saima handled the financial affairs of “Kanjipani Imran” — consistent with the account NewsFirst gave at the time of the arrest — and also managed the crime figure’s social media, arranging for audio recordings attributed to him to be circulated online.
Investigators have further found that Saima allegedly helped “Kehelbaddara Padme” stay in hiding in Malaysia last year, reportedly on Kanjipani Imran’s instructions. Police said he had previously been a close associate of “Kudu Anju”, believed to be living in France, before joining Imran.
None of these findings has been tested in court, and no new charges arising from them have been made public.
Sources: Ada Derana — Alleged organised crime figure ‘Ratmalane Saima’ arrested in Malaysia; NewsFirst — Three associates of Kanjipani Imran arrested in Malaysia, July 31; Ada Derana — Police uncover major organised crime links, August 10; Ada Derana — Handed over to Peradeniya Police, August 11; NewsFirst — Handed over to Peradeniya Police, August 11.
