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| Sunday, 25 April 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Stolen vehicle racketeers in Police net Crime Sunday by JAYAMPATHY JAYASINGHE Another stolen vehicle racket by a gang from the North Western Province was bared following the arrest of a car broker and an accomplice from Wennappuwa last week. Detectives from the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) posing as businessmen in buying and selling of used motor vehicles were able to expose the racket. It all began at Wennappuwa a fortnight ago when a woman driving her car home was followed by three men in a van which pulled alongside when she stopped near her home. As she alighted from her car two men leapt out of the van and one of them brandishing a pistol holding it against her head, ordered her to get into the car. The woman pleaded with them not to cause any bodily harm to her and was prepared to part with her gold bangles and some cash. But the robbers not being satisfied with the offer had insisted that they needed her Nissan car which was worth Rs. 1.3 million. They told her that if she wants the car to part with Rs. 200,000 to which the woman had replied that she is unable to comply with their request. According to police, the woman having lived in Italy for nearly 12 years had amassed a fortune before returning to Sri Lanka, and lived comfortably alone in her house in Wennappuwa. As the woman refused to part with the money the suspect had ordered her to get into the car while the other man got into the back seat of her car. They drove off in the direction of Puttalam. The men told her that they will not cause any harm to her. The man with the pistol had driven the car while the woman was seated beside him in the front seat. All this happened around 8. p.m. The woman having noticed the pistol slipping from the hand of the robber and falling on to the dash board which she later told the Wennappuwa police that the pistol looked a fake one. While being driven around, the robbers had warned her not to complain to the police. The woman told the Wennappuwa police that she had Rs. 85,000 in her hand-bag. The hand-bag was on the rear seat where the other was seated. She complained that a sum of Rs. 25,000 was pilfered from it. The robber in turn later told police that he only stole only Rs. 10000. While all this was happening the third man in the van was following the car. The gang eventually dropped the woman near her home and drove off in the vehicle to Kurunegala. There the robbers met a man who ran a rent-a- car service who had agreed to sell the vehicle. He posed as a prosperous businessman staying at a private guest house in Kurunegala. According to Police there were eight warrants for his arrest for indulging in fraudulent activities. A resident of Boralesgamuwa he was always on the run. Meanwhile CCD detectives posing as businessmen came to know through their network of brokers in Colombo that a luxury Nissan vehicle was available for sale at Puttalam. They lost no time in travelling to Puttalam with the broker. The businessmen were informed by the broker at Puttalam that the car was with a rent-a-car salesman at Kurunegala. In Kurunegala they contacted the rent-a-car salesman who brought the car near a hotel. However, the car salesman felt an intuition that something was wrong and was getting ready to escape when the detectives closed in. After the arrest the detectives got the salesman to phone the man who brought the car to him. He was instructed to tell the person that the car was sold and to collect the money at the Galle Face Green. He was a man from Wennappuwa now residing at Wanawasala, Kelaniya, the very same person who had robbed the car from the lady. Meanwhile, the detectives posing as businessmen were waiting for him with the car salesman. A neatly dressed man then arrived in a three-wheeler in the company of his wife to collect the money but was taken by surprise when he was arrested. Director, Colombo Crime Division (CCD) SSP, Sarath Lugoda said they are on the lookout for others. Meanwhile, two stolen cars have been recovered by the police so far. |
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