[TamilNet] The Sri Lankan Police in the city of Mannaar has been backing a 10-member gang to fuel communal hatred among the sections of Tamil speaking people in Mannaar, legal sources in the city told TamilNet Tuesday. The ploy has come to light after the gang leader with Muslim name, allegedly a convert from Hindu background, has been caught following a number of criminal acts in the city. Known by one name, Rahman, has been harassing Tamil women and has been allegedly behind a number of robberies while sharing the ‘income’ with senior SL police personnel in Mannaar police station, sources in the city said.
People in the city have been living in fear as the robbery and theft allegedly carried out by the gang led by Rahman was on the increase in recent months.
The gang leader was arrested after he went to a house with another person named Vimes and severely assaulted three youths of a same family at gunpoint on 29 November. The injured were admitted to the Mannaar base hospital. One of the victims is still warded in the hospital.
Mannaar Magistrate ordered one week remand for Rahuman and Vimes and directed the police to hold further inquiry.
More than ten complaints of sexual assaults and robbery have been registered against ‘Rahman’, who has also been named as a key operative in running narcotics.
The gang members have been involved in violent acts that seek to create divisions among the Tamil speaking people in the city.