A 30-year-old man known as “Bombuwala Sudda” has been arrested by the Kalutara District Crime Division on allegations of supplying motorcycles for underworld activity and drug trafficking, Ada Derana reported.
How he was traced
Police began investigating after a complaint that a motorcycle parked near a shop at Nagoda Junction, within the Kalutara South Police Division, had been stolen. The suspect was identified from CCTV footage obtained in the area.
A team including the Officer-in-Charge of the Kalutara District Crime Division subsequently arrested him while he was riding the stolen motorcycle in Bombuwala. At the time of the arrest, stickers had been placed over the motorcycle’s number plate to alter its registered number, police said.
Wider allegations
Further investigation has indicated the suspect is connected to several motorcycle thefts reported in the Ingiriya, Ratnapura and Kiriella police divisions. He is suspected of supplying the stolen machines to underworld groups for use in drug trafficking and other criminal activity.
He is due to be produced before the Kalutara Magistrate’s Court. The Kalutara District Crime Division is continuing its inquiries.
Why stolen motorcycles matter to these investigations
Motorcycles with altered or obscured registrations recur in Sri Lankan organised-crime cases, where they are used by gunmen and then abandoned. Police recovered a motorcycle linked to the Payagala shooting in a separate inquiry this week, and the vehicle used in the Athurugiriya shooting in August was central to that investigation.
Ada Derana did not connect this arrest to any specific shooting or network.
Not reported
Ada Derana did not give the suspect’s real name, say how many motorcycles are alleged to have been supplied, name any group said to have received them, or report whether other suspects are being sought. No other verified newsroom had carried the arrest at the time of writing.
