Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Douglas Devananda yesterday, over the alleged transfer of a firearm to an underworld drug kingpin.
According to Newswire, the firearm which was reportedly issued to the paramilitary leader by the Sri Lankan army in 2001, was later found in the possession of drug kingpin Makandure Madush. Madush was killed in 2020 during a police shootout when he had taken police officers to a housing complex to recover a stock of heroin.
The CID have obtained an order which allows them to detain Devananda for 72 hours for further questioning.
Devananda is the head of the notorious EPDP, a paramilitary organisation that was armed and backed by the Sri Lankan state during the armed conflict.
Throughout the conflict, the EPDP carried out a series of war crimes and human rights abuses, including running child trafficking rings, abductions and murders.
Devananda was a close ally of the Rajapaksa regime and was rewarded with various ministerial posts throughout the years.