Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala says the fight against organised crime cannot be won through arrests and prosecutions alone, and that police must increasingly focus on identifying, tracing and recovering the proceeds of criminal activity.
Addressing a law enforcement forum, the minister said the future of policing in Sri Lanka must extend well beyond traditional criminal investigation, NewsFirst reported.
Wijepala called for a technologically advanced, analytical and highly trusted police service, and said officers need to be adaptable to fast-changing criminal patterns and equipped for challenges ranging from cybercrime to financial offences and transnational organised crime.
What was and was not announced
The minister set out a direction rather than a measure. NewsFirst’s report carries no new budget, no timeline, no unit strength and no legislative proposal, and does not name the forum he was addressing or say who else spoke.
Sri Lanka Police already has a Financial Crimes Investigation Division, established to handle money laundering, terrorist financing and offences against public property. Neither the minister’s remarks as reported nor the report itself indicates whether the emphasis on tracing criminal proceeds means new powers or resources for that division, a separate unit, or a change of priority within existing structures. LankaNewz has not established which.
No other verified newsroom carried the minister’s remarks on Monday, so the account rests on a single report.
Context
The remarks come as investigators pursue several high-profile financial matters. The Bribery Commission arrested former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake on Monday over recruitments at the National Lotteries Board, and the extradition of former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran remains blocked. Wijepala did not refer to either case in the remarks reported, and LankaNewz has not established any connection between them and his comments.
