Mohamed Niyaz Naufer used to trumble a heavy fruit barrow in Pettah and Hultsdorp once upon a time. Since he was born and raised up in the area and receiving little education, selling fruits was the means of income for this strapping, sunburnt youth. He would purchase his stock wholesale from the Pettah market and peddle his cartload among the busy bus depots and the courts areas. In this trade, being forever on the move and having lots of time on his hands, it gave him the opportunity to witness and mix with the underworld characters in the Pettah area on a daily basis. No one who knew him in those early days ever suspected that he would emerge as a leading criminal.

As a youth he was totally dissatisfied with the income he earned from his trade and sought ways and means of getting rich quickly. Contemplating the avenues that were open to him he decided in the early ‘80’s to join the drug trade, which was flourishing in the area.

Peddling drugs, it did not take long for Naufer, who was very enterprising, to become rich very quickly . He courted the friendship of Sudakaran, who was the leading underworld gangster in Maligawatte at that time, and plied his new trade making use of the protection given to him by various contacts.

Eventually the friendship between Sudakaran and Naufer soured since Naufer by this time had gathered followers of his own and was fast becoming very popular, especially among the Muslim youth of the area who looked up to him as their leader. With the widening split between the two, Naufer faced various threats not only from the underworld of Hulstdorp but also from Maligawatte, particularly from Kudu Noor who was a rival in the drug trade.

Naufer decided that it was time to retaliate if he was to stay in the business and he took on the challenge thrown to him by Kudu Noor and emerged as the victor by eliminating Kudu Noor. Noor’s brother Mohideen and his cousin Fazal were also killed eventually.

Nadarajah Wijepalan was the leader of the Colombo City Tamil underworld groups and he often rivalled Naufer partly on drug trade disagreements and also due to ethnic differences. With the rivalry reaching a peak, Naufer was attacked by the Wijepalan group in Kotahena and a bomb was thrown at his vehicle. Naufer lost an eye in this incident and before long he was referred to by all as "Potta Naufer".

Naufer’s popularity was steadily rising and he was considered the leader of the underworld in Pettah and Hulstdorp. His lavish spending made him a very popular person. He even endeared himself to both the junior and senior Police officers with his vast wealth. It is alleged that some DIG’s, SSP’s, ASP’s and IP’s were on his payroll. With the backing of Police behind him, Naufer did not hesitate to wipe out anyone who challenged him.

In addition to his drug trade Naufer also collected kappan from the businessmen in Pettah as well as from the buses that plied from the city to the outstations.

From his humble beginnings Naufer who peddled fruits in Hulstdorp, was now a very rich man and the most feared gangster in Colombo.

Like all other gangsters, he had the protection of the politicians who backs underworld for their personal gains. It is said that a politician who hails from the Gampaha district had very close links with Naufer and during the election periods Naufer gave his whole hearted support to this politician.

When parliament was dissolved there was an internal struggle in the UPFA for the organiser’s post in the Mirigama area. This politician who was close to the top was also a contender for this post. But the hierarchy decided that Namal Gunawardene who was a popular figure in Mirigama should be given the post of organiser. The nomination of Namal angered the politician who told Naufer:

"We have been so very close to these people, but we have been overlooked. People who have joined recently are being appointed."

This politician was also involved in the scrap iron trade and he was interested in the scrap iron offered by the Veyangoda Textile Mills which had closed. Unfortunately he was not successful in his tender and a Muslim trader from Thihariya who had the backing of Namal Gunawardena was the successful bidder.

When the bid for scrap iron failed Naufer’s friend tried to get kappan from the Muslim trader but was thwarted in his attempts by Namal Gunawardena.

This politician after the rebuff decided to finish off Namal Gunawardena. He contacted Naufer and summoned him immediately to confer with him. Naufer did not lose time in presenting himself.

"Namal has become too much of a nuisance and a headache. He is ruining my political career. We must bump him off."

Naufer confidently told his politician friend "Don’t worry, I will do the needful within a few days."

Naufer was clever enough not to give this contract to his normal contacts but used two new members of his gang for this purpose. The two were Nishantha Udayakumara and Sampath Namal. Nishantha was a SLAF deserter and a very good marksman while Sampath who was employed at Sathosa hailed from Matara. They were both assured by Naufer that they would never get caught and that someone else would be suspected of the murder.

These two men visited the Mirigama area as it was election time and Namal’s posters with his photograph were plastered around the walls of town. They reported to Naufer "Sir, we have seen Namal’s photographs and we can now identify him anywhere".

Naufer then conferred with his political buddy and sought his advice to draw up plans for the elimination of Namal Gunawardena. Nishantha and Sampath were provided with a motorbike and two pistols to carry out their project.

Namal Gunawardena unaware that he was being followed attended the Provincial Council meeting and proceeded towards Kollupitiya. He then visited an Indian friend and returned to his cab which was parked outside.

Nishantha and Sampath who had been hiding in the ditch awaiting his arrival, shot him dead. They then proceeded to inform Naufer that his orders had been carried out and returned the weapons to him. Naufer in turn appraised his politician friend that the mission has been accomplished.

The untimely death of a very young and promising politician shocked the country. Though there were various rumours and theories about the killing the authorities could not trace the culprits.

Naufer who had by now got jittery with several cases pending against him, pondered on his fate. He was afraid of the sentence that would be meted to him should he be found guilty.

"The verdicts of Ambepitiya Mahattaya are very severe. One day he would mete out some stiff sentence to me, we must do something before this happens" he has told his trusty stalwarts.

The reasoning behind this episode was due to the fact that a person who had given evidence against Naufer in a court case had been found shot dead a few days earlier. Naufer was a suspect in this killing and the case was pending before Judge Ambepitiya.

"We should do something before the case is taken up. Otherwise I would have to spend my whole life in prison" said Naufer to his closest associates.

Naufer was advised by his close friends to handover the killing the judge to Nishantha and Sampath, since they had done a perfect job on the earlier assignment.

Naufer met them and awarded the contract promising two assistants, Sujith Rohana from Delgoda and Suminda Niroshan from Kaduwela to help them.

"Do a clean job but be very careful. I will look after you all. If you wish I can even find employment for you in Italy" said Naufer.

Naufer advised and instructed the group to first follow Ambepitiya and learn of his movements, his security arrangements etc. "Start following him from tomorrow itself" instructed Naufer.

The group followed Mr. Ambepitiya’s vehicle for two day in a three wheeler and on the third day they followed him on a motor cycle. The gang then reported to Naufer and they met in a house in Ganemulla for discussion.

"There has not been a sentry at Mr. Ambepitiya’s residence for the last three days. We should finish him off there itself since escape would be very easy" Nishantha told Naufer.

Naufer then drew up plans "We shall hire a van for the job. When Ambepitiya Mahattaya alights from his vehicle, you should start shooting. It would not be difficult as there is no sentry on duty at the gate. Do not leave any evidence behind - not even the driver." Naufer then handed over the two pistols that were used for Namal Gunawardena’s killing to Nishantha and gave his blessings for a successful mission.

Nishantha came to Rajagiriya around 8 a.m. the following morning and hired a van from a rental agency. Around 10 a.m. the other members of the gang had been picked up from near the Elphinstone Theatre and they then proceeded towards Borella.

"We are doing a teledrama at Moratuwa and we have to collect a camera from a certain person. Until he comes we cannot do anything" Nishantha told the driver Wickrema.

Wickrema did not see any reason to doubt him. On their way they stopped the vehicle at several places and took calls from telephone booths. Wickrema noticed that the gang was rather aimless in their mission and did not seem at all in a hurry to get to their destination.

"Shall we have something for lunch. I am feeling hungry" said Nishantha. They stopped the van near a restaurant at Kynsey Road.

Nishantha ordered two plates of fried rice and half a bottle of arrack. Wickrema since he was driving refused the liquor but partook of the lunch.

While leaving the restaurant Nishantha received a call, after which he seemed very excited.

"Let’s go to Bauddhaloka Mawatha, our friend would come over there" Nishantha said to the driver.

When they arrived at Sarana Road, Nishantha and Sampath were scanning all the vehicles that were plying the road. Suddenly a speeding vehicle entered a bungalow with big gates.

In the twinkling of an eye Nishantha and Sampath jumped off from the van and ran towards the bungalow. Upali who was the judge’s bodyguard open the dickey of the judge’s car and it was he who received the first volley of bullets. He fell down to the ground and thereafter the two men opened fire at Ambepitiya.

Wickrema who was in the van could not believe his eyes. It all happened so fast. Nishantha and Sampath then came running toward the vehicle, chased Wickrema out and told him to beat it, if he wanted to see another day. Even though they had received explicit instructions from Naufer with regard to evidence, especially about the driver of the van, they had spared Wickrema’s life and sped away in the vehicle.

News of the shooting of Ambepitiya sent shock waves through the country. The President called an emergency meeting of the authorities who were in charge of defence establishments and after a lengthy discussion on the wave of crime which was rocking the country it was decided to bring back capital punishment. The IGP himself took over the investigation.

The investigation commenced under the leadership of Sarath Lugoda, Director Crime Division, ASP, Palitha Fernando, JR Jayawardena, and Ranmal Kodituwakku assisted.

Initially there was a suspicion of the involvement of the LTTE but the police were able to dispel such theories.

It is highly commendable that the police for the first time used some of the latest technologies available in their investigations. They were armed with the information provided by the driver of the van which helped them tremendously in their search for the culprits. Wickrema was able to point out the several stops made by the gang from where Nishantha telephoned his accomplices. They were afforded a good lead as they were able to trace the calls that had been taken. It was revealed that a driver of a three wheeler in the court complex who was in league with the gang had alerted Nishantha when Ambepitiya had left the courts.

The unit which functioned under the IGP Chandra Fernando was targeting certain underworld groups. Nuwan Wedisinghe OIC Crime Division managed to get the much needed breakthrough.

The police officers who conducted the investigations on the evidence of the telephone calls given by Nishantha were lucky to catch the leader of the gang.

Potta Naufer was interrogated and the police were able to apprehend the four men who had committed the murder, within 48 hours of it been committed.