The Criminal Investigation Department’s Homicide and Organised Crime Investigation Division has arrested a 47-year-old man in Ranpokunagama, Nittambuwa, in connection with the alleged abduction and disappearance of a retired Sri Lanka Army soldier from Kirindiwela in 2018, Ada Derana reported on Tuesday.
The CID acted on a complaint received by the Inspector General of Police regarding the disappearance of the former soldier, who was residing in Kirindiwela at the time of the incident on 9 September 2018. The arrest was made on Monday at the suspect’s home in Ranpokunagama, police said.
During the arrest, officers recovered a pen-shaped firearm believed to be of foreign manufacture together with five rounds of compatible ammunition. Investigators also seized four T-56 assault rifle rounds, eight 9mm rounds and two 12-bore shotgun cartridges from the suspect’s possession — a collection of military and civilian calibres that police did not immediately link to a specific case file.
Further investigations are being carried out by the CID’s Homicide and Organised Crime Investigation Division, the department said. No further details were released on the suspect’s identity, his alleged role in the 2018 abduction, or whether other suspects are being sought.
The case opens a new strand within the CID’s broader 2026 organised-crime workload, which has been dominated this year by underworld figures, narcotics trafficking and contract-killing investigations. Re-opened cold cases involving disappearances from the immediate post-war period have repeatedly surfaced in CID Homicide Division operations, including the ongoing Chemmani mass-grave excavation in Jaffna.
