The Police yesterday arrested 1,246 people suspected of having committed various offences, in one of the largest special operations of its kind conducted in the recent past.
According to Police media spokesperson, DIG Priyantha Jayakody, the operation was carried out islandwide between 11 p.m. on Friday and 3 a.m. on Saturday with the participation of 11,792 Police officers including 94 senior gazetted officers.
“The aim of the operation was to apprehend those who were loitering during the night without a valid reason,” he said, adding that teams also focused on drug prevention, crime prevention, illegal firearms and dangerous driving.
During the operation, the Police apprehended 1,246 people suspected of having committed various crimes.
“The suspects were fingerprinted by the criminal records division, under the new automated system,” he said. According to the Police, among those arrested were 101 Island Reconvicted Criminals (IRC), four Air Force deserters, three Navy deserters and 199 wanted for various offences.
The operation helped Police execute 567 warrants issued by the Courts, while 26 heroin possession cases were detected along with 45 cannabis cases. Eighty-seven vice detections were also made along with 307 traffic detections related to dangerous driving.
According to the Police, the operation was conducted under the direct supervision of the Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara while provincial areas were entrusted to the respective Senior DIGs.