Colombo, September 22, 2025 – A fresh weapons discovery in Middeniya has raised new concerns over the reach of organized crime in Sri Lanka, with investigators once again encountering the notorious “K.P.I.” marking.
Police recovered two gold-colored T56 magazines, 115 rounds of T56 ammunition, a hand grenade, and a damaged 9mm pistol from a house in Weerodagama. The items had been buried earlier this month on the property of a woman whose husband, an employee of the Ceylon Electricity Board, has also been arrested.
The breakthrough followed the arrest of Sampath Manamperi, a former local council candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, who is suspected of maintaining ties with a drug-trafficking syndicate. His interrogation led authorities to the hidden cache.
What makes the discovery more alarming is the ammunition stamped with “K.P.I.”, a marking previously linked to the assassination of underworld figure Club Wasantha (Surendra Wasantha Perera) in July last year, and once associated with notorious criminal Kanjipani Imran.
The find also echoes an earlier case, when a gold-colored T56 magazine was seized at a luxury housing complex in Wellawatte-Havelock, leading to the arrest of former minister Duminda Dissanayake. Though still under judicial review, the suspects in that case have been released on bail.
Authorities say the Middeniya case is connected to an ongoing probe into Kehelbaddara Padme, Backhoe Saman, Panadura Nilanga, and two others, who were apprehended in Indonesia and later brought back to Sri Lanka.
While no evidence yet points to a direct link between Kanjipani Imran and Kehelbaddara Padme, the resurfacing of the “K.P.I.” mark has reignited questions over whether this is mere coincidence—or evidence of a deeper, continuing network of organized crime intertwined with political figures.
