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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Vehicle racket bared, press printing fakes raided Crime Sunday by Jayampathy Jayasinghe It was late past midnight, the driver as usual parked the Hiace van on the 42nd lane at Wellawatte and soon fell asleep inside the vehicle. The driver had been advised by the family that owned the vehicle to keep vigil during night and to sleep inside the vehicle to prevent it from being stolen or robbed by underworld men. The family had come all the way from Batticoloa. Two family members were to go to the BIA on the following morning to catch a flight. So they left their bag and baggage in the vehicle and went to see their friends. Five men in the vehicle But something strange happened past midnight. The driver who fell asleep in the back seat woke up suddenly and found to his amazement the vehicle moving fast. He could not believe his own eyes and was wondering how five men had got into the vehicle despite it being locked. Obviously the robbers hadn't seen the driver lying on the back seat asleep. The man went into a tail spin and was so horrified to see his vehicle being driven by robbers. He summoned all his courage and yelled at the robbers to stop the vehicle. The robbers shaken by his screams, halted the vehicle, dragged the man out and took off again in the vehicle. But fortunately he was not harmed. The driver, huffing and puffing and struggling to maintain a composure went up the lift to the condominium apartment and informed his master about his ordeal. Before dawn they both went to the Wellawatte Police station and lodged a complaint regarding the robbery. Police promptly issued a red alert to all city police stations to intercept the Dolphin vehicle and arrest the five robbers. But by then the robbers were hiding somewhere in the city or had slipped through police cracks. Fifteen days later another theft of a Dolphin Van was reported from a resident at Maligawatte near the Magistrate court complex. However the local police could not trace the suspects due to lack of evidence. Meanwhile thieves struck again at Wellawatte for the third time. Another Dolphin Van parked on the land side was stolen again. This happened exactly one month after the first Dolphin van was robbed. Like the previous thefts the local police could not make any progress due to lack of evidence and the matter came to a standstill. A month rolled by without any arrest being made by any police station. CCD investigations It was at this stage that police higher ups thought it fit to transfer the cases to the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) headed by its Director, SSP Sarath Lugoda. The CCD has had a record of tracing stolen vehicles from the city during the past few years. On a tip off from an underworld man, the CCD sleuths questioned a notorious man from Borella, who was previously linked to a racket involving stolen vehicles. The man was usually dressed up like an executive and spoke flawless English. He was a notorious confident trickster who even had the capacity to sell fridges to Eskimos. Unfortunately the police knew who he was. The man told the police, that a five member gang that stole the Dolphin van had sold it to him. The van was thereafter taken to a garage in Piliyandala for re-painting and fixing of false number plates, he said. The sleuths lost no time in tracing the Dolphin van and later arrested the confident trickster. However despite the arrest of the kingpin, the five member gang could not be traced. They posed a headache to those who parked their cars in street corners. The thieves particularly had a penchant for Dolphin vans as there was a big demand for it in the uncleared areas. Meanwhile on a tip off the sleuths at last arrested the five-member gang responsible for the thefts of vehicles. The five gang members usually gathered and hanged around near Condominium apartments after midnight when everyone is faster asleep. It is common knowledge that many Sri Lankan expatriates and the super rich like to live in luxury condominium apartments these days that have sprung up in the city recently. But these condominiums lack adequate parking space and tenants are sometimes forced to park their vehicles on the streets. In the recent past several police stations in Colombo have been inundated with complaints of thefts of motor vehicles which have baffled policemen. Ninety percent of these complaints came from persons living in luxury condominiums. But the police have been groping in the dark and was not able to trace the robbers. After the arrest of the five-member gang, the sleuths learnt the second Dolphin Van stolen which they stole from Maligawatte was sold to a man in Matara. Police even contacted him on the phone and the man promised to bring down the vehicle to Colombo. But instead, he simply disappeared with the vehicle and never turned up at the Colombo Crime Division. Under SSP Lugoda's instructions, a police team had been despatched to arrest the man and to recover the vehicle. Meanwhile the sleuths learnt that the third Dolphin vehicle stolen from Wellawatte was sold to a woman in Grandpass who despatched it to Kilinochchi. Printing press Probing deeper into the racket, the sleuths raided a surreptitious printing press at the Borella junction and found different types of fake documents including, National identity cards, insurance certificates, international driving licences, local driving licences, death, birth, marriage certificates, examination results certificates, temporary Police Permits etc. Almost all fake documents were printed at this spot. Police took into custody the mother and her daughter who ran the press. Subsequently it was learnt that all fake certificates of stolen vehicles were printed at this press at Borella. The sleuths questioned the people at the press and learnt that they had come from distant place in the South to obtain fake documents. Meanwhile the five suspects, the confident trickster., the mother and daughter who ran the printing press were remanded pending further inquiries. |
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