The Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court has granted permission for the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) to detain and interrogate Sridaran Niranjan, also known as ‘Tinker’, a member of an organized crime group who was recently arrested in Dubai and deported to Sri Lanka.

According to the Police Media Division, court approved a 24-hour detention period, until tomorrow (03), for officers to question the suspect.

The suspect was apprehended during a joint operation involving Sri Lanka Police, the State Intelligence Service and the Dubai Police in the United Arab Emirates.

Following his arrest, he was brought to Sri Lanka in the early hours of yesterday (02) and taken into custody at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by officers of the Airport Criminal Investigation Division. He was then handed over to the Peliyagoda Police.

Subsequently, the suspect was produced before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday, where approval was granted to detain him under the custody of the Colombo Crimes Division for further interrogation, police stated.

The suspect is a 36-year-old resident of Colombo 15 and is believed to be an associate of Palani Shiran Glorian, alias ‘Kochchikade Shiran’, a well-known figure involved in organized crime and drug trafficking.

Police further revealed that the suspect is accused of transporting firearms used in a shooting that occurred last August along the Sri Gnanarathana Mawatha, Peliyagoda, where one person was killed and another seriously injured.

Additionally, he is believed to have served as the driver of the getaway vehicle used in a shooting incident last year in Grandpass, where a man seated in a parked three-wheeler was gunned down.