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| Sunday, 16 October 2005 |
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Killing of prison officers, detainee: Two suspects nabbed, four others trailed Crime Sunday by Jayampathy Jayasinghe Following the killing of three Prison officers and a detainee, last September 26, a manhunt was launched by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) of the Gampaha Police, along with a team from the Peliyagoda police to apprehend the killers. Following several clues Police finally arrested two members of the killer gang that staged the attack and recovered a cache of arms used in the attack. The recovered arms included three T-56 automatic rifles, two 9mm Browning pistols , an artificial dummy gun, 68 rounds of 7.62 live ammunition and 4 rounds of 9 mm live ammunition hidden at a shrub jungle at Thambuttegama and from Udugampola area. They were recovered by a party led by OIC of the Gampaha Special Investigation Unit (SIU). Police later questioned the suspects and learnt that one T-56 weapon was robbed from a policemen whilst he was on duty at in Katunayake area some time ago. The other weapons were recovered by OIC Pamunugama. On the instructions of North Western Province DIG , Asoka Wijetilleke six special police teams were detailed to hunt the killers. They fanned across the country in search of the killers and finally arrested the ring leader named Rohitha alias Passpodde and his henchmen Sagara. The two men masterminded the plot to assassinate the detainees while they were being taken to Gampaha and Minuwangoda Magistrate courts. The suspects when interrogated had told police that they planned to kill them when they learnt that the detainees were planning to kill them after release from prison. This all happened on September 26 when every thing looked peaceful in the Gampaha district with people going about attending to their daily chores. There were no ominous signs whatsoever to suggest that something dreadful was going to happen that day. But what unfolded at the Asgiriya bridge on the Gampaha Minuwangoda road that day was horrendous. No one had dreamt that there was going to be any blood letting on this day and on this spot. The reason why the underworld men tried to assassinate them on this spot is being investigated by police teams. The time was around 9.30.a.m. when the six underworld figures arrived in a Tipper van which they parked near the Asgiriya bridge. All the men remained inside the vehicle for an opportune moment. Bypasses took no notice of the vehicle as there was nothing hanky panky going on inside the vehicle. There was no reason for anybody to feel suspicious as the vehicle was not parked for a long period. Meanwhile the Prison officers attached to the Negombo prisons were making hectic preparations to transport the notorious prisoners to the Gampaha and the Minuwangoda Magistrate courts that day. All the prisoners were holed up at the Negombo prisons. There were several notorious underworld figures like Asitha and Udaya, in remand custody. They were dreaded criminals involved in several serious crimes like murder, robbery and extortion in the Free Trade Zone, Negombo, and in Gampaha areas. They had a price on their head and had to be given maximum protection to protect their lives. The men also had arch enemies from other rival gangs who waited for an opportunity to liquidate them. On that day the Prison bus had left the Negombo Prison around 8.30.a.m. with several detainees and an armed policeman and armed Prison guard with several other prison guards. They were on their way to Gampaha and Minuwangoda Magistrate courts. The bus travelled quite a distance and when it crossed the Asgiriya bridge on Gampaha Minuwangoda road the underworld figures waiting in ambush emerged from the Tipper van and fired incessantly at the bus killing two Prison officers and a detainee on the spot. The third Prison officer who was seriously injured died while being admitted to hospital. While the underworld men fired at the bus the policemen fired back in retaliation and the men fled in their vehicle. A few hours later police found a T-56 weapon and some ammunition abandoned in a shrub jungle close to the spot. A senior Police officer said that they were on the trail of four other men who took part in the attack who are absconding. In fact this was the second attack in recent times where prisoners while being transported were attacked by mobs. A few months ago mobs attacked prisoners in a cell inside the Embilipitiya Magistrate court. It is high time that authorities devise a plan to stall such attacks in the future. |
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