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Bait left at the edge of a field looks like food to a hungry animal. That is the whole design of a hakka-patas: an explosive that goes off in the mouth of whatever bites. On 6 October, wildlife officers in Galgamuwa say they found a place where such devices may have been made.
A joint operation in the Galgamuwa area has uncovered a site allegedly used to manufacture hakka-patas, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Daily Mirror reported that several suspects were arrested with items including deer skins and hakka-patas. Officials described the raid as the first of its kind and said it is only a beginning, with more joint operations to follow.
The operation brought together the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Police Special Task Force (STF) and the Civil Security Department. It is part of an intensified crackdown on the illegal methods used to kill or injure wild elephants and other wildlife, targeting hakka-patas, snares and illegal firearms. Posts on Environment Minister Dammika Patabendi’s Facebook page say the operation was carried out on his instructions. Media reports say five teams took part under the direction of Prashantha Wimaladasa, the Assistant Director responsible for Kurunegala and Puttalam.
Galgamuwa Wildlife Office provides further details
Speaking to Climate Fact Checks, a spokesperson at the Galgamuwa Wildlife Office said the case is being handled directly by the Kurunegala District Wildlife Office, with help from the STF, the Civil Security Department and other personnel. Materials believed capable of being used to make hakka-patas and similar devices were found in the possession of some suspects, the spokesperson said, and investigations into the materials and the people involved are continuing.
The spokesperson added that wildlife officers in Galgamuwa have raided hakka-patas users in previous years, but with far fewer resources, sometimes only five or six officers. Four to five elephants in the Galgamuwa area had fallen victim to hakka-patas in earlier years, the spokesperson said, so the problem is not new to the region. In July 2025, for instance, officers of the Galgamuwa Wildlife Zone arrested four suspects with two elephant tusks in the Nikiniyawa and Olombewa areas.
What hakka-patas are, and why they matter
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence says hakka-patas are illegal explosives reportedly made from “Cheena Patas” and the raw materials used in the firecracker and fireworks industry, and that they are widely used to scare wild animals away from farmland. In a 29 September 2025 statement , the ministry said such devices had caused several severe injuries and deaths to both people and wild animals in the recent past, and that their production, distribution, storage and sale continue despite a prohibition. It instructed the relevant authorities to run special island-wide operations with the Sri Lanka Police, and warned that fireworks licences would be revoked for anyone found involved.
Wildlife authorities and veterinarians have repeatedly pointed to the suffering of elephants that survive such attacks. A July 2025 Daily Mirror report on 20 injured elephants under treatment across the country listed hakka-patas in its headline among the causes of injury.
A district at the centre of the conflict
Kurunegala, the district that includes Galgamuwa, is among the districts that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office listed as most affected by human-elephant conflict, alongside Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Hambantota, Monaragala, Badulla and Trincomalee. At that meeting the President directed that Civil Security Department officers be assigned to the Department of Wildlife with specific training, and that joint operations by the police, security forces and wildlife officials be made more systematic.
The wider policy push has been building through 2026. In July, the government launched an integrated programme that includes recruiting civil elephant-fence assistants, restoring water sources in forest reserves and gazetting three elephant corridors in the Hambantota and Monaragala districts, with similar steps expected elsewhere. On World Elephant Day, 12 August, the Minister said the government is pursuing a permanent solution built on habitat restoration, corridor protection and stronger field operations .
Enforcement expected to continue
Authorities have indicated that similar raids will continue in areas frequented by elephants. What the public does not yet know is considerable: officials have not disclosed the full list of materials recovered, how many suspects were arrested, or the precise nature of the alleged manufacturing operation. Any of those details could show investigators how hakka-patas reach farm edges in the first place.
The Galgamuwa Wildlife Office’s account also exposes a field-level problem. Previous raids relied on a handful of officers, and wildlife officials say continued surveillance, intelligence gathering and enforcement will be needed to prevent further deaths and injuries. The latest operation, with the STF and Civil Security Department alongside wildlife officers, is a broader response to a problem that has persisted in Galgamuwa for years.
References
https://www.defence.lk/Article/view_article/28730
https://island.lk/from-conflict-to-coexistence-govt-steps-up-elephant-protection-drive
https://adaderana.lk/news/cmr9bqiss0004356pc7hvgv1r
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