Police recovered the body of a 19-year-old man near the Nadee Viharaya in Mattakkuliya on the morning of April 23, a day after the youth had been reported missing.
Police Spokesman Assistant Superintendent F. U. Wootler said area residents provided information that led investigators to the scene. The victim was identified as a 19-year-old allegedly involved in organised criminal activities, though police have not released his name or further details on his background.
No information has been disclosed about suspects, and investigations are ongoing. The Colombo North Division is leading the inquiry with support from the Police Special Task Force in the Mattakkuliya area, a neighbourhood that has been the site of repeated gang-related incidents in recent years.
The killing is the latest in a run of Colombo-area homicides linked by police to narcotics trafficking and extortion networks. Sri Lanka’s underworld has remained active through the April holiday period, with several high-profile arrests in the past fortnight connected to the Kanjipani Imran and Madush networks. Police have not yet indicated whether this killing is connected to any of those rivalries.
