A similar ‘reign of terror’ with complete police and political patronage to that of Noori - Deraniygala is reported from Maliboda - Deraniyagala, the Daily Mirror learns.

Villagers in the area said, a gangster by the name of Dammika and his gang had unleashed many atrocities for over a decade in the area with the police not taking any action despite repeated complaints.

“When we go and complaint to the police, they would call Dammika and tell him that there is a complaint against him and by the time we go home, Dammika and his gang would be at our houses. So we stopped complaining because there was no point” villagers told us.

Dammika and his gang are alleged to have committed crimes such as rape, assault, murder, looting, distribution of moonshine, robbery among many others.

Villagers, who are still fearful of being identified due to the fact that the alleged criminals have not been apprehended yet, that Dammika and his gang were also given poitical patronage similar to that in Noori.

“Two powerful politicians from Kegalle district were fully supportive of this gang. This is why the police never took any action against them. The police are heavily bribed for all these years by these people” they said.

Despite police attention being focused on Deraniyagala with DIG, SSP and the police top brass visiting the area after the media exposure, it is unclear why the police attention had not extended to the entire Deraniyagala Police Division, which comprises 26 villagers.

With ample evidence being brought to light of the involvement of Anil Champika, the former Deraniyagala PS Chairman, and the Deraniyagala police together with national level political powers, the fact that the attention has only been focused on Noori, has raised many concerns among the civil and administrative apparatus.
Read full story