Sri Lankan, jailed for killing local gangster, arrested for illegal stay in Mumbai

Mumbai: Police on Monday arrested an 36-year-old alleged criminal from Sri Lanka, who was staying in the Mira Road suburbs of the city illegally, after entering India by sea without valid documents.

The accused was identified as Arumahadi Janith Madhusangha D’silva (36).

He was arrested from a lodging facility off the Western Express Highway in Kashimira area of Mira Road in Thane district.

D'silva, who had faked his real identity, failed to produce any legitimate documents to validate his stay in India, following which he was taken into custody and booked under sections of the Foreigners Act, 1946, Passport Act, 1950 and Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.

Investigations revealed that D’silva -- who was lodged in a jail in Sri Lanka for the past seven years on charges of murdering a local gangster in 2015 -- had fled the country after being granted bail in December 2024.

The murder was said to be an act of revenge to settle scores with the gangster who had allegedly murdered members of D’silva’s family in Sri Lanka. Fearing retaliation from the associates of the deceased gangster, D’silva took the sea route from the island country and landed at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on December 31, 2024, before moving to Thane district.

The Kashigaon police station is conducting further investigations into the case even as the local unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad has joined the investigations.