Combined operation

Farji’s name has now come to the fore once again. A combined operation of army and the police against him has come to an end suddenly due to political pressure. The operation to apprehend Farji and his gang was launched on 21st. After 4 hours of gang-busting when the police was about to round up the Farji mafia, they were stopped from proceeding obviously due to political pressure.

It is still not clear as to who had influenced the police to stop the operation. Over 100 police officers, including OICs of Colombo police stations and Police Superintendents, together with around 100 army personnel were involved in the gang heist.

Police sources reveal that they were initially on a narcotics raid when they were confronted by an armed gang at 211 Watte in the Maligawatte area. The gang had a T56 weapon, a hand grenade and a pistol with them. Police were unaware of the identity of the goons and tried to apprehend the suspects. At this point, the man who had the hand grenade had taken out the pin and directed it at the police officers.

Abruptly halted

It was to apprehend this group that police launched operation gang-bust. It was only after it was abruptly halted that they came to know that they the were going after notorious Farji and his men.

However, police were able to arrest one member of the gang along with a revolver in his possession. The suspect, identified as Mohammed Rizmi, had been separated from the rest of his gang when he fell into police custody.

According to sources from the Colombo Crimes Division, there are 13 underworld gangs which are operating in the city. All of these gangs receive political protection. Farji’s gang is just one of these. However, the “Farji” gang enjoys far more power and political protection than the others.
The Anamalu Imtiaz gang, the Diga Faizer gang, the Baiyya gang and the Potta Naufer gang are the other Muslim gangs which are operating in Colombo. They are the most powerful underworld groups in the city. Other underworld gangs which are operating in Colombo are the Olcott gang, the Kimbula Ela Gune gang, the Kudu Lal gang, the Blumendhal Danushka gang, the Karate Dhammika gang and the Feroze gang.

Travels around

The Olcott gang, the Karate Dhammika gang and the Danushka gang are receiving political protection from a provincial councilor. He travels around Colombo with members of his mafia. Police sources also reveal that in addition, the Karate Dhammika gang receives protection from a man who is said to be an advisor to an extremely powerful politician.

The Olcott gang is led by its leader, Olcott. He had entered the underworld from the Vanathamulla area in Borella. It is said that a dispute between two families forced him to join the underworld. Police sources reveal that around 40 people had been killed by this gang so far.
The gang also includes a number of army deserters and two SIs who had been suspended by the police. One of these SIs is Kapila, while the other is Nadun. He had served with the STF and is a resident of Kosgoda. It is said that Nadun has fled to France, while some say that he’s still in the country. Kapila has gone missing in the past few days. Information filtering through indicates that he may have been killed.

The Karate Dhammika gang emerged from Kaduwela. The gang gained notoriety by massacring notorious underworld gangster Kaduwela Wasantha and 8 of his associates on Vesak Poya Day in 2000.

According to police, the Blumendal Danushka gang was formed after the killing of notorious underworld figure Prins Kolam. During the recent elections, the politician who is protecting the Danushka gang had even provided Danushka with a double cab so that they could help him in his campaign.

The Feroz gang, which also operates from Colombo, has most of its activities centered around Negambo. This gang receives protection from a deputy minister. Feroz was also arrested on one occasion by the police in Negambo. It is said that police tried to eliminate him having brought him to the Blumendal garbage dump. However, this deputy minister had intervened and saved his life. Feroz is currently in Negambo prison.

The Colombo Crimes Division, the Crimes Investigation Division at Police Headquarters, and the Crimes Investigation Divisions of the Western Province North and South all have separate files on every one of these underworld gangs. Police are now hastening to close all these files quickly. This is because they are planning to rapidly eradicate them. Meanwhile, underworld gang leaders and other members of these gangs are now being mysteriously “disappeared.’’ Underworld figure and drug dealer Kudu Manju was killed in Koswatta, while Grandpass Ravindra, a member of the Danushka gang, was killed in Malvana. The underworld kingpin Mahinda Godage alias Bada Mahinda was killed near the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital. Police first began their war on the underworld in mid 2004. This was while the present IGP was the DIG of the Crimes Division. A special police team under him first shot and killed underworld leader Thoppi Chaminda and an associate. Since then, over 100 underworld gang members have been killed by police. These include those who have been killed in gun battles with police as well as others who have been killed mysteriously. Meanwhile, a number of underworld figures are also listed as having ‘disappeared.’ Even the police have no idea as to what happened to them.

-Lakbima News-