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In joint Jakarta operation, ‘badminton coaches’ took game to underworld
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
In Jakarta, the sleepless city of Indonesia, amid the neon lights, traffic chaos, and crowds enjoying the nightlife, two Sri Lankans walked the streets on their first visit, their sharp eyes fixed on an apartment complex and scanning the faces of passersby for those matching their target.
The most secret overseas operation in Sri Lanka Police history to apprehend underworld suspects began on August 23, 2025, following three months of planning, and was kept so tightly under wraps that even the officers’ families were unaware.
The team comprising the two Sri Lankan ASPs and Indonesian officers behind the apprehension of the underworld suspects
Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP) Rohan Olugala and Mahinda Jayasundara, under the guidance of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya and Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Asanka Karawita, who heads the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), launched an operation that had been planned for three months before their departure to Jakarta, Indonesia, where the suspects, listed under Interpol Red Notices, were confirmed to be residing.
Only President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, IGP Weerasooriya, SDIG Karawita, and the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Shani Abeysekara, were aware of the mission apart from me and ASP Jayasundara. Even our families had no knowledge of it, and we pretended to everyone that we were going to Japan. We were very careful to keep this operation secret and prevent any leaks, knowing that supporters of the underworld might be among our circles,” ASP Olugala told the Sunday Timesabout the extraordinary mission.
ASP Rohan Olugala
He explained that Interpol had been involved from the early planning stages, helping to pinpoint the initial locations where the underworld suspects were believed to be based.
Indonesia is nearly 29 times larger than Sri Lanka, with more than 1.9 million square kilometres of area compared to Sri Lanka’s 65,600 km², and it has over 18,000 islands. Five underworld suspects Kehelbaddara Padme, Commando Salintha, Backhoe Saman, Panadura Nilanga, and Thembili Lahiru were hiding somewhere. It was an operation with challenges.
“We had to research Indonesia before we went, as neither of us had ever visited the country. We studied its social environment and geography online. To avoid raising suspicion, we posed as badminton coaches, badminton being very popular in Indonesia, and carried our rackets by hand. We didn’t pretend to be players, as we were not young enough for that,” said ASP Olugala.
The two ASPs left Sri Lanka on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at 7:20am, and arrived in Jakarta around 3:00pm. They were disguised as backpackers. It was their first visit. They spent the first night in a budget hotel in Cikin city, in Jakarta’s Sawa Katta area.That night, they met two Interpol officers for an eight-hour briefing about the suspects, but they carefully withheld sensitive details about the exact locations.
“We had to stay in a budget hotel because of our limited cash, and the biggest challenge we faced in Indonesia was that most payments were made through mobile apps, so cash was useless. Without Indonesian apps, we couldn’t pay for basic services and that was the immediate challenge we faced in Jakarta. To buy a SIM card, we had to walk a long distance since we couldn’t get transport, but finally, we managed to set up app access.’’
Heavily disguised, they blended into the crowd in Jakarta, a city that never sleeps.
The suspects apprehended in Jakarta
Their first task was to find Padme, the main target, who was thought to be hiding in the Batavia Apartment complex in Central Jakarta North. Sri Lankan officers knew only the general location, not the room number. They guessed he might use a gym. At first, they found a run-down gym, not suitable for someone of Padme’s level. Then, just five minutes from Batavia, they discovered a luxury 24 hour gym that matched his profile, and surveillance began.
“We managed to trace a location in Jakarta using the new apps we had set up. From Cikin, it took us nearly 40 minutes in heavy traffic to reach the Batavia Apartments. That place was massive, with six layers of security. We only had the general area, not the exact room number. The city was so crowded and busy, which actually helped us blend in. Our first day of surveillance gave us nothing. All we knew was that Padme used a gym. So, we hired a taxi driver and paid extra to go off-route, just to avoid suspicion. The first gym we found was about 25 minutes away by car, but it was too low-grade, like a small Colombo gym. It didn’t match Padme’s status,” said ASP Olugala.
“Then we discovered another gym, just five minutes’ walk from Batavia, a luxury, 24-hour place. That made more sense. Later, we learned there were five such gyms in Central Jakarta,” he said.
On Monday morning, Interpol called the Sri Lankan team to the Metro Jaya Police Station in Central Jakarta, the country’s largest police headquarters. After some delay, Interpol explained that they could only provide guidance but would not take part in the arrests that day. The Sri Lankans, meanwhile, kept their exact locations secret, to protect future missions.
The room the suspects were staying in
“That Monday night changed everything for us. We saw Padme and Salinda leaving a mall about 50 yards away. We followed them quietly and confirmed their location. Later, Interpol agreed to bring in their crime division team. The mission was tough, we even had to sleep on the streets at times because Jakarta only used card payments and we had no safe place to rest.’’
Within days, the underworld’s network had already tracked the ASP’s address. That was when things got truly dangerous. After that, Padme and his team slipped out of the Batavia Apartments.
“They went to another location, only about seven kilometres away, but circled nearly 60km to mislead us, switching through five different Blue Bird taxis. We followed them closely, but we were worried; we thought we had lost Plan A. That’s when we turned to Plan B, tracing their IP address. We had aimed to capture three criminals, but in the end, we found five. Finally, we succeeded in the mission, right at the moment they were preparing their meal,” said ASP Olugala.
The Sri Lankan team learned that Padme and the other criminals were being held at Metro Jaya Police headquarters, which was attacked by protesters that night.
Sri Lanka Police said that the arrests were made with the assistance of Interpol, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Indonesia, and the Indonesian Police.
During the chaos and amid tear gas, the criminals tried to escape. Reports also came in that an attempt was made to bribe an Indonesian police officer. At 11:00pm, they received information that one Avishka had called Kanjipani Imran and tried to offer money to the Indonesian police to help them escape.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake personally intervened and ordered that the suspects be brought to Sri Lanka immediately on a special flight.
“If this had not happened that day, they might have escaped,’’ said ASP Olugala, referring to the attack on the police by the protesters.”
For Sri Lanka, the mission in Jakarta was more than just a police operation. It was a demonstration of intelligence, persistence, and diplomacy where a handful of determined officers carried the weight of a nation’s reputation on foreign streets.
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