Ex-constable discharged over Sooriyakanda cannabis raid case
Embilipitiya Magistrate's Court on 2 November 2026 discharged former Sooriyakanda constable Susantha Hettiarachchi in a case linked to a cannabis plantation raid. The land was reportedly tied to a relative of Ratnapura MP Shantha Pathma Kumara, and Hettiarachchi had faced obstruction, force and intimidation charges.
Embilipitiya Magistrate’s Court on 2 November 2026 discharged former
Sooriyakanda police constable Susantha Hettiarachchi in connection with a
cannabis plantation raid case.[1]Hettiarachchi was a former constable
attached to the Sooriyakanda police.[1]Attorney-at-Law Punchihewa appeared
for the suspect and made submissions on his behalf.[1]
The court issued the discharge order under Section 123 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure.[1]The order was based on a complaint submitted by the Embilipitiya
Division Special Crime Investigation Unit.[1]The discharge decision came on
the same day the court had ordered charges to be filed regarding the incident.[1]The investigation unit had presented facts against the suspect on three
charges.[1]The three charges were unlawful obstruction of the land in
question, criminal force and criminal intimidation.[1]
The case concerned a cannabis plantation raid on land reportedly belonging to a
relative of Ratnapura District National People’s Power Parliamentarian Shantha
Pathma Kumara.[1]The Embilipitiya Division Special Crime Investigation Unit
was the complainant in the case.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Charged
1
Agency type
Police, Court
Cannabis
Living plants
Activity
Cultivation
Setting
Field
Grown
Outdoor
Case stage
Charged
Sources
Hiru Newshirunews.lkCourt discharges ex-constable over Sooriyakanda plantation raid
Open questions the AI reported
No figure for the cannabis plantation, including plant count, weight or area, was published.
The article gives no separate date for the plantation raid itself; 2 November 2026 is the discharge and publication date used as the incident date.
No cannabis possession, cultivation or trafficking charge against the suspect was reported; the three charges were unlawful obstruction, criminal force and criminal intimidation.
It is not stated whether the suspect had been arrested or held in custody before being discharged.
The claim that the raided land belongs to a relative of parliamentarian Shantha Pathma Kumara is reported only as reportedly belonging and was not independently confirmed.
The procedural sequence is unclear because the discharge came on the same day the court had ordered charges to be filed.
Only one accessible source for this event was found after searching in English and Sinhala; no agency statement or second outlet account could be opened.
Galle District Crime Division officers arrested a 41-year-old Unawatuna resident in a local raid and recovered over 125 grams of Kush alongside crystal methamphetamine. Police said further investigations into the possession case were underway.
A man detained while taking part in the sit-in against the Anuradhapura Sacred City Development Plan, on a charge of obstructing police duties, has been found to have used both heroin and cannabis. Two civilians were arrested over the confrontation between police and Buddhist monks near the Ruwanweli Maha Seya stupa.
Airport Police Narcotics Bureau officers arrested a 37-year-old Indian businessman at Bandaranaike International Airport early on 7 November 2026 as he allegedly tried to smuggle kush and hashish out of Sri Lanka. They found 2.102 kg of kush in tins labelled as tamarind toffees and 5.26 kg of hashish shaped like toffees, which police valued at about Rs 231.42 million.
Police in Madiwela, Kotte, arrested a 25-year-old local resident in a night raid on 6 November 2026 and seized 558 grams of Kush, a cannabis product, along with heroin and crystal methamphetamine. The Western Province North Crime Division, which ran the raid on received information, said investigations were continuing.
