Spate of crimes in Jaffna:

Forces arrest gang leader

Rasika Somarathna

Security Forces yesterday arrested a nine member gang in Jaffna allegedly responsible for a spate of crimes which took place within the peninsula recently.

Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe said that the breakthrough had come when the Army arrested a robber who had broken into a house in Kopay, Jaffna. According to him, he was the leader of the gang.

Acting on the information given by him another eight persons of the same gang had been arrested with the help of the Police. Recently there had been a spate of robberies and criminal incidents in the Jaffna peninsula.

Earlier Major General Hathurusinghe said that the Army would intensify security measures by increasing random checks, snap roadblocks and night patrols in the area. He said it was not to harass anybody but to prevent unlawful happenings in Jaffna and ensure the safety of the people.

The capture of the gang is seen as a major breakthrough in identifying the perpetrators behind the recent crimes in the Jaffna peninsula. Police are investigating.