Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa insisted that Sri Lanka would be “free from drugs [the] same way as it was freed from terrorism” during a gathering organised by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), according to Colombo Page.
Rajapaksa addressed the crowd last week and gave assurances that Sri Lanka will be “free from the drug menace for the future generations” and that “several measures are already in place to prevent drug infiltration and distribution.”
There were public requests at the gathering including calls to repair and update infrastructure in the South and retain investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. The Presidents official media division claimed, “the request will take time to be fulfilled will be scrutinized and necessary steps will be taken in the future.”
Rajapaksa’s promise to crack down on drug-related crimes comes after Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, and accused war criminal, Kamal Gunaratne also intended to employ a ruthless approach and “vowed to eradicate Sri Lanka’s drug menace” last month. As a result, there has been an escalation in military surveillance and harassment in the North-East.
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