In 2020 Sri Lankan drug kingpin Ellawala Liyanage Dharmasiri Perera better known by his alias Alto Dharme was arrested by the Abu Dhabi Police over a visa irregularity. However, he was never extradited to Sri Lanka and continues to live in the United Arab Emirates while operating his illegal drug trafficking business from the Middle Eastern country.
Sinhara Amal Shaminda Silva known as Gonakovile Kudu Anju in the underworld is considered to be Alto Dharme’s boss. While Dharme managed all of Anju’s illegal business ventures, they became infamous for the killing of Ranjan Silva, the father of cricketer Dananjaya Silva.
It said Anju had ordered the hit on Ranjan Silva and his son Sachithra Silva from Dubai where he was residing at the time. The directive to kill the duo was given to none other than his right-hand man Alto Dharme who sent two paid assassins to carry out the hit. Following the incident, Alto Dharme manages to escape to Abu Dhabi after the Police begin to hunt him down for the killing of Silva.
While Dharme and Anju both have Interpol red notices, the French Police were unaware of this when they arrested Anju recently. The Police arrested him based on a complaint lodged by his wife. In it, the wife claimed Anju had assaulted her and accused him of domestic abuse.
While he was produced before the Courts, he was ordered to be remanded for several days. The French Police later realised he had a red notice out for him when they made background checks on his passport N6731590. While the notice was issued on February 26, 2020 Anju and his family were already in France claiming refugee status.
Anju sought asylum from France based on the murder of his brother Gonakovile Lansiya who was an underworld figure in Ratmalana. He was killed on June 23, 2016 by Gonakovile Roha, an underworld rival.
Childhood friends
Lansiya, Anju and Roha were said to be childhood friends and educated in the same school in Mount Lavinia. Instead of pursuing higher studies beyond their ordinary levels, Lansiya and Roha had taken to bodybuilding after leaving school. However, their close friendship had broken down after Roha was assaulted by Lansiya’s uncle over a personal dispute.
Roha had first taken up a security officer job at a garment shop only to move on to another job as a waiter at a restaurant. Meeting Moratu Saman, a popular underworld figure at this job, changed Roha’s life. He then enters the underworld and chooses the path of crime intending to exact revenge on Lansiya’s uncle who had brutally assaulted him.
Roha eventually shot Lansiya and Anju’s uncle dead in Panadura, then went on to shoot yet another uncle of the duo inside the Dehiwala Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. While Moratu Saman was also shot dead by a rival during this time, Roha as expected replaced him, taking up his underworld crime syndicate. However, he is eventually nabbed by the Police and is imprisoned for his crimes.
Gang rivalry
After spending two years in jail, Roha is finally released in 2006 but not without a bounty on his head. Lansiya, despite his power, was forced to compete with Roha over territory. As both took to drug trafficking their rivalry only intensified. Though Roha was once again remanded, the fighting between the gangs continued. While the gangs eventually called a truce due to an intervention of a politician, peace prevailed until Roha was released from prison in 2013.
But yet another personal dispute between two family members of either party only reignited the feud resulting in Lansiya issuing death threats to Roha and his family. But with infamous white vans hot on their tails, Roha fled to Dubai while Lansiya hid away in a house located in Ja-Ela. While Roha returned to Sri Lanka in 2015, Lansiya was killed by his gang on June 23, 2016.
Anju, unconnected to crime until the death of his brother, is forced to flee to Malaysia with the support of Alto Dharme after Roha’s gang began to hunt him down. Dharme also supported Anju to become the leader of his brother’s gang and continue their criminal activities. This in turn ignited a new rivalry between Anju and Roha.
The murder of Ranjan Silva at the hands of Anju was a result of his close friendship with Roha and his gang. In 2016 Anju while in Malaysia ordered the killings of several others close to Roha. He then moves to Dubai for his safety.
Later his wife Lasanda and two children also joined him there. Eventually, the family moves to the city of Bordeaux in France from where Anju continued his criminal activities in Sri Lanka. He is also said to have purchased businesses in France registered under the names of others.