A court order has been issued to hand over several vehicles seized by the Police during the ‘Yukthiya’ special operation, to the registered owners, it was reported.

The Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court issued the order, instructing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to hand over the vehicles worth nearly Rs. 100 million to its registered owners.

The magistrate has also rejected a request by the Police to further detain the vehicles for investigation purposes.

During the case hearing, the Defense Council had alleged that proper orders had not been obtained from the High Court for the acquisition of the said properties.

The ‘Yukthiya’ special operation was launched by the Police in December last year to curb drug-related activities in Sri Lanka.

According to Ada Derana, during the operation, the Kaduwela Police had seized several vehicles belonging to the sister of Malalage Sudath Kithsiri alias “Welivita Sudda”, who is said to be a drug trafficker, and handed them over to the CID.

The Kaduwela Police had seized five luxury buses, a luxury vehicle, and a motorcycle from the possession of the woman.