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| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Lid blown off Luxury vehicle racket by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE Police have finally been able to blow the lid off a racket involving the theft of luxury vehicles following the arrest of two persons in Wellawatte with a stolen double cab, a fortnight ago. Director of Special Crime Operational Unit, SSP, Mahinda Hettiarachchi said they have found the key to the riddle which baffled them for so long with the arrest of two persons known as "Dolphin Brothers" involved in a series of vehicle robberies. He said stolen vehicles like Mitsubishi Pajero Inter-coolers, Toyota Prado Land Cruisers from the Western Province end up in the Vanni region controlled by the LTTE. With the arrest of the three suspects, Police also recovered 5 -T-56 weapons, a 9 m.m. Pistol, 136 live bullets, a Rambo Knife along with the Double cab stolen at Wellawatte. The suspects have been involved in a series of thefts of luxury vehicles which have been sold to brokers from distant places like Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee. Ultimately the vehicles are taken to LTTE controlled areas. SSP Hettiarachchi said that several criminal gangs operate hand in glove with brokers who have links with persons living in LTTE controlled areas. "Although stolen vehicles are smuggled into the Vanni region none of the vehicles have been recovered so far. It is because we do not have access to LTTE controlled areas. Although there isn't evidence to link the LTTE to the racket we know that many luxury vehicles end up in Vanni territory" he said. Meanwhile, Police headquarters have released the following figures in respect of vehicles stolen this year. (From January to October) 501 Motor Cycles, 211 Three-Wheeler Taxis, 25 Cars, 140 Vans, 3 buses, 40 Lorries, 9 Jeeps. In addition 60-70 vehicles have been stolen during the month of October. A senior Police Officer who wished to be anonymous said that several corrupt officials at the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) and at the Customs Department connive with criminal gangs to register stolen vehicles. It becomes a difficult task to trace stolen vehicle when it is registered under a false number. "Unlike in the past people need not take their vehicles to the Registrar of Motor Vehicle or to the Customs Department for registration purpose. All they got to do is to take some relevant documents connected with the registration process." he said. Meanwhile, Director Colombo Crime Division, Senior Superintendent of Police, Sarath Lugoda said that two of the three underworld gang members who hi-jacked a vehicle at gun point at Kalutara last week was apprehended by detectives from the Colombo Crime Division. (CCD) The gang after robbing the vehicle had then staged a robbery on a wayside boutique in Kalutara. At gun point they robbed a boutique and collected all cash. Thereafter they took the driver forcibly to a lonely spot and tied him to a tree before walking away. However people in the vicinity who heard him scream rescued him later. SSP, Lugoda said persons involved in the robbery of a Double cab at Wellawatte were not involved in the murder of the Millionaire gem merchant at Kollupitiya, whose body was fished out from the Bolgoda lake several days later. "We have detailed a special team to trace his Intercooler Pajero with gems worth millions of rupees". Lugoda said that they have identified three gangs involved in the theft of vehicles in the Western Province. Some gang members nabbed recently had acquired T-56 automatic weapons to kill their rivals involved in vehicle thefts. The Moratuwa Saman gang had been earmarked for this purpose. Statistics on crime show that up to October 2003, 594 motor cycles have been robbed and only 182 have been recovered. Police however were galvanised into action with the recent spate of robberies of luxury vehicles like Pajero Inter-Coolers and Toyota Prados belonging to important persons. Luxury vehicles are said to be in demand in the Vanni as it suits the terrain. Gangs often rob them when they receive orders for such vehicles. It was learnt that an inter-cooler Pajero robbed from a residence at Dehiwela recently have been taken to the Vanni region by the robbers and sold to some brokers, police said. A senior Police Officer said that it wasn't easy to dispose stolen vehicles earlier. What the robbers did then was to dismantle vehicles and sell spare parts as scrap to unsuspecting customers and dealers, but now disposing them to the LTTE areas is the new trend. |
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