Sri Lanka Police have recovered a locally manufactured Mini Uzi-type automatic firearm from a public cemetery in Colombo — the first such weapon believed to have been domestically produced and discovered in the country.
The find was made by the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) on information obtained during the interrogation of underworld figure “Mahawatte Chamara,” who was recently deported from Dubai and is being held by the CCIB. Investigators also recovered a foreign-manufactured pistol, a magazine and three rounds of ammunition concealed at the same cemetery location.
Police said they had previously received intelligence pointing to the existence of a locally-manufactured Mini Uzi but had been unable to locate it. They suspect the weapon had been used by criminal groups to intimidate rivals. Further investigations are continuing under the CCIB.
The discovery escalates a growing domestic weapons-manufacturing concern within the underworld and follows the pen-shaped firearm seized at Weligama and a batch of 21 organised crime suspects recently brought back from the UAE. The cluster of post-deportation interrogations has also produced eight further Interpol Red Notice extraditions from the Emirates in the past week.
Sources: Ada Derana and Newswire.
