A 25-year-old Sri Lankan wanted over several murders alleged in the Southern Province has been arrested in Dubai, Ada Derana reported.
Patabendige Thushan Nethsara, known as “Kalu Malli”, is the younger brother of Shehan Sathsara, alias “Dehibale Malli”, an accused organised criminal and drug trafficker.
An Interpol Red Notice had been issued for the younger brother’s arrest. Dubai authorities detained him on information supplied by the Sri Lanka Police, Ada Derana said.
What has not been reported
Ada Derana did not say when the arrest took place, how many murders the Red Notice covers, when those killings are alleged to have occurred, or where in the Southern Province. Nor did it report whether Sri Lanka has begun extradition or deportation proceedings, or whether Colombo has received formal notification from the United Arab Emirates.
NewsFirst confirms the arrest
NewsFirst reported the arrest separately later on Tuesday, giving the same core account: Thushan Nethsara, alias “Kalu Malli”, said to be the brother of a drug trafficker known as “Dehibale”, arrested in Dubai by Dubai Police acting on intelligence supplied by the Sri Lanka Police. It added that further investigations into the suspect are under way.
NewsFirst’s account is the thinner of the two. It did not carry the Interpol Red Notice, the suspect’s age, the murder allegations, or the Southern Province connection — all of which rest on Ada Derana alone. It also renders the brother’s alias as “Dehibale” where Ada Derana has “Dehibale Malli”.
Update: Hiru says he is expected back within days
A third verified newsroom, Hiru News, reported the arrest on Tuesday and supplied the one detail the other two had left out: the suspect is expected to be brought back to Sri Lanka within the next few days.
That partly answers the question left open above. It does not say under what mechanism — extradition, deportation or removal — or whether any formal process has begun, and it does not confirm that Colombo has had official notification from the Emirates. But it is the first indication of a timeline, and it distinguishes this case from the “Welle Saranga” arrest three days earlier, where no return date has been reported.
Hiru otherwise gives the same core account as NewsFirst: Dubai authorities acting on intelligence provided by the Sri Lanka Police, arresting Thushan Nethsara, alias “Kalu Malli”, described as an alleged organised criminal and drug trafficker. Like NewsFirst, it does not carry the Interpol Red Notice, the suspect’s age or the Southern Province murder allegations, which continue to rest on Ada Derana alone.
On the disputed alias, Hiru sides with NewsFirst: it renders the brother as Shehan Sathsara, alias “Dehibale”, against Ada Derana’s “Dehibale Malli” — two outlets to one for the shorter form.
The second Dubai arrest in three days
The case follows the detention in Dubai of the underworld figure known as “Welle Saranga” on 30 August, which Sri Lankan police also attributed to intelligence they had shared with Emirati authorities. In that case, the Daily Mirror reported that Sri Lankan authorities had not yet received official notification from Dubai — a caveat that has not been addressed in Tuesday’s report either.
Dubai has become a recurring destination in Sri Lankan organised-crime cases. Several figures named in police investigations are believed to direct operations from the Gulf while remaining outside Sri Lankan jurisdiction.
The elder brother, Shehan Sathsara, is among them. Police have previously described him and Kanjipani Imran as operating from overseas while directing narcotics distribution inside Sri Lanka. Tuesday’s report does not say where Shehan Sathsara is now, or whether he is also the subject of a Red Notice.
A note on the name
Ada Derana’s report gives the arrested man’s name as Patabendige Thushan Nethsara, while identifying his brother as Shehan Sathsara. LankaNewz has reproduced the spellings as published. Where transliterations of the same family name diverge in a single report, the court record is usually the only reliable arbiter, and none has yet been reported in this case.
