Organised crime figure Ranjith Kumara, known as “Konda Ranji”, was taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department immediately on arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake this morning, after being deported from Dubai.
Police said investigations are under way into his alleged involvement in several criminal activities, including drug trafficking operations, the Daily Mirror reported. Hiru News confirmed the CID arrest on arrival from Dubai.
Detained in January, returned in September
Kumara was arrested by Dubai authorities on January 9, 2026, while allegedly attempting to flee to Italy. His wife and children were detained in the same operation and later released by the United Arab Emirates.
That places eight months between his detention in the Gulf and his arrival in Colombo — a gap neither outlet remarks on, and the longest of any of this year’s returns from Dubai.
Wanted over the Samaraweera secretary murder
Sri Lankan law enforcement has identified Kumara as a key suspect in several high-profile investigations. Among them, according to the Daily Mirror, is the murder of the coordinating secretary to former Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
Neither report gives the date of that killing, names the victim, or says what charges Kumara will face first.
The thread our archive left open in August
Kumara’s return closes a loop opened two weeks ago. When underworld figure “Bus Lalith” was flown back from Dubai on 25 August, NewsFirst reported that four more alleged organised crime figures remained in custody in Dubai with efforts under way to repatriate them — and named Ranjith Kumara Dissanayake, alias “Konda Ranji”, as one of the four.
That August reporting gives a fuller name than today’s, which carries only “Ranjith Kumara.” On the August account, three of that group are still held in the UAE.
He is at least the fifth alleged organised crime figure returned from or arrested in Dubai since mid-August, following Shiran Basik on 14 August, Bus Lalith on 25 August, “Welle Saranga” on 30 August and “Kalu Malli” on 1 September. Twenty-one suspects were deported in a single group in May.
Update, September 9 — handed to the Western Province North Crimes Division
NewsFirst reported at 6:55 p.m. that Kumara has been handed over to the Western Province North Crimes Division for further investigation, answering part of what the morning’s reporting left open: the CID made the arrest at the airport, but the case has moved to a provincial crimes division rather than staying with the CID.
NewsFirst adds three details no other outlet carried. Police allege Kumara operated as a key associate of the organised crime figure “Ganemulla Sanjeewa”; that he is accused of involvement in assaults, intimidation and several shooting incidents targeting residential properties; and that he had previously been arrested on 12 separate occasions in connection with various criminal incidents.
The Ganemulla Sanjeewa link is the significant one, and it is worth stating precisely what it does and does not mean. “Ganemulla Sanjeewa” — Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne — was shot dead on 19 February 2025 inside courtroom No. 5 at Aluthkade by an assailant dressed as an attorney. NewsFirst describes Kumara as an associate of that figure, not as a suspect in his killing; the two are opposite sides of the same case file, and no outlet places him among the murder suspects. That prosecution reached its 47th named suspect earlier today, when a boat driver was remanded over the escape of the principal suspect.
The emphasis also differs between outlets. The Daily Mirror leads on drug trafficking and the Samaraweera secretary murder; NewsFirst mentions neither, and leads instead on the violence and intimidation allegations. Both accounts can hold at once — they describe different parts of a file police have not published — but no single report gives the full charge sheet.
Not reported
No outlet says which agency escorted him from Dubai, whether the Central Crime Investigation Bureau was involved alongside the CID as in the Bus Lalith repatriation, or when he will be produced in court. Ada Derana carried the story but its domain was unreachable throughout this cycle, returning a CloudFront 403 on every request.
