31 arrested over illegal fuel hoarding in island-wide raids within a month

Police have arrested 31 people for illegally hoarding fuel during raids across Sri Lanka over the past month. According to Police Media Spokesman, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) F.U. Wootler, these arrests happened during operations from March 3 to April 4. During the raids, authorities seized over 52,000 litres of fuel, which included 47,006 litres of diesel, 2,668 litres of petrol, and 2,706 litres of kerosene. The Police Media Spokesman mentioned that legal action is being taken against those arrested. He explained that these operations were ordered by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to address the ongoing global energy crisis and to stop illegal fuel hoarding, which disrupts the lives of the public. In one case, a 58-year-old man was caught in Heiyanthuduwa, Sapugaskanda, with 180 litres of diesel without a license. In another incident, two men, ages 39 and 49, were arrested in Sevanagala while transporting 1,000 litres of kerosene in a lorry without a proper permit, after police received a tip-off.