In recent times Police top brass in the North have repeatedly tried to assure the public that it has a firm grip on the province and control on its crime rate as concerns regarding criminal groups such as the ‘Aava’ gang continue to increase.
But despite these claims, local residents say they absolutely have no confidence in the Police and its ability to curb crime while alleging that lawlessness is now rampant in the once war-torn region.
The ‘Aava’ group was first heard of in 2011. In time as the group began to grow so did the frequency of events connected to them. They are often described as youth on motorcycles wielding swords roaming the streets attacking homes and shops and taking away valuables.
The Police accuse the group of being influenced by South Indian films prompting them to act in such a manner. In fact, a CCTV footage recovered by the Police from October 2017 shows members of the gang arriving at a shop and brazenly attacking its owner and others with swords only to get away unchallenged much alike scenes of a Tollywood gang film. The footage was a real insight into the gang and how it operates in the area. “But the Police just watch as various crimes take place,” says Amarthanathan Muhunthan, a resident of Tellippalai. According to Muhunthan robberies are commonplace in the area despite constant Police presence. “The Police are all over the place but the criminals often appear to get away somehow,” he said.
Many locals allege that Police response to crimes has been poor throughout. As one resident who wished to remain anonymous said every time a crime is reported the Police only show up around 2-3 hours later.
“Everyday we hear of several attacks by men on motorcycles carrying swords,” she says adding that there have been reports of many serious crimes such as rape as well.
According to her, drugs and alcohol are also flowing freely in the region leaving addicted youth to turn towards crime in order to fuel these habits. “Is this the lack of political will on the government’s part, or a targeted political will at variance with the interests of the people?” she questioned. Meanwhile, Muhunthan says the common perception among the locals is that the Police support some of these groups. “People ask if not how come they are able to get away so easily,” he says adding that the issue of crime has become serious across the province.
But the Police say according to their data, crime solving in Jaffna is at 77 per cent this year while the crime rate is much lower than other provinces in the country.
Minister of Law and Order, Ranjith Madduma Bandara says certain elements have been trying to portray the ‘Aava’ gang as a demon trying to devour the province riddling it with crime with some politicians trying to liken it to the revival of the LTTE.
“The Police are managing the situation well and there is no need for alarm,” the Minister said. “The North is peaceful and its security is assured,” says Senior DIG of Jaffna Roshan Fernando. According to him, the main issue in the province is the so-called ‘Aava’ criminal gang.
“Incidents regarding the gang are reported to the Police but these are small incidents,” he said, adding that however, no grave crimes such as killings have taken place in the region. In 2018 only two murders have been reported in Jaffna while Police have already arrested the suspects involved.
In a region having 53 police stations, Fernando says these incidents are only reported in the four areas of Jaffna, Manipay, Kopai and Chunnakam. Identifying the suspects and gang members as residents of Inuvil and Kokuvil area, the Police say it has cracked down on the gang activity.Fernando claims there is a lot of infighting between the gang which has broken down into factions. According to the Senior DIG the Police have arrested and presented many gang members to the courts.
“Some have left the group due to constantly being arrested and those remaining in the gang tend to attack the homes of these ex-members,” Fernando said.
But due to the nature of the crimes being thefts and causing insignificant injuries, Fernando says often the gang members are granted bail who then go on to re-engage in gang activities. People often in fear also refuse to lodge complaints with the Police he alleged.
“There is no serious law and order situation in the North” he maintained, adding that however the Police to carries out their duties within the stipulated limits.
“Some elements may try to push the Police to go beyond this limit but we will not overstep our boundaries,” he said. But the constant discussion regarding crimes in the North recently even moved Army Commander Lt. General Mahesh Senanayake to offer their support to the Police in a bid to curb crime in the North. “We are prepared to support the Police by providing intelligence information and other resources,” he recently said.
However, Minister Madduma Bandara says there is no need for the Army to be involved in maintaining law and order in the province. “The Police are carrying out their duties well” he claimed. But local residents say the constant reporting of crime and attacks by these groups have left the region gripped in fear.
Mukunthan also says despite the Police claims of arrest, there have also been wrongful arrests of youth after being labelled as ‘Aava’ gang members. Relating a personal experience he points out that friend of his acting in a theatre production was arrested for carrying a sword.
“He was playing the part of Rama in the play and had made a sword replica for the role,” he says. According to him, this led to his arrest as the Police claimed he was an Aava gang member. “That sword couldn’t cut through anything but they arrested him anyway,” he said. As the Police announced a special crime combating operations to arrest Aava group members this week they searched around 21 homes, while three suspects who had been involved with the Aava gang were arrested.
While the special operation took place with the participation of around 300 police officers including 200 from the Jaffna range, 50 from Mullaitivu, 50 from Kilinochchi and the rest being intelligence officers, Senior DIG Fernando noted that these mass-scale police operations would be continued in order to curb gang violence in the North.
However, Muhunthan says the Police, more importantly, needs to work on its relationship with the public in the region.
Despite adopting a community policing approach after the war, he says there is almost no relationship between the cops and the common people of the North. “There is an air of suspicion and they have done nothing to bridge this gap,” he said.
According to him, people continue to have a bad perception regarding the Police as being corrupt and involved in crime. “But not every Policeman is looked at in that way,” he said.
For example, Muhunthan says people have been praising the OIC of the Kopai Police station. “They trust him due to the way he has been conducting himself and is seen as an honest officer,” he said.
While the Police appear to be distant from the common man and more focused on crackdowns to curb crimes, however, Muhunthan says the Army is more friendly and been working on building relationships with the local population.
“They are much closer to the people. The Police needs to work on their people skills and if not will never be able to solve this issue,” he opined.