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| Sunday, 25 December 2005 |
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Mystery behind van robbery Crime Sunday by Jayampathy Jayasinghe It was an unbelievable story. Yet it was true judging from the events that took place at Hikkaduwa and Udugama last week. The Hikkaduwa police are now looking out for four suspects including two monks and two civilians responsible for robbing a Dolphin van after threatening to shoot the driver with a pistol. The plan However nobody knew what went on in the minds of the two monks and the two civilians who robbed the Dolphin van which they hired on 18 december to proceed to Udugama. But why on earth did they change their plans all of a sudden and decide to bail out from the vehicle after arriving at Udugama.? Did these monks had a evil plan to assassinate the chief incumbent of the Udugama temple where they were residing? The Hikkaduwa police probing into the daring robbery is trying to find answers to these questions. It all happened on December 18, when two monks Amarashantha (19) and Upashntha (18) from a well known temple in Udugama travelled all the way to a temple in Hikkaduwa and met another monk named Upali secretly. The three monks with an ex-monk then went into a room and discussed their sinister plan under closed doors. There wern't anybody else in the room except for them. The time was around 7.P.M. The ex-monk Dammalanka was then given a robe to don by one of the monks in the room. The ex-monk now clad in a yellow robe set out to Nalagasdeniya in Hikkaduwa along with Anil and his friend to hire a vehicle to proceed to Udugama. At Nalagasdeniya they hired a Dolphin and was on their way to the Hikkaduwa temple to pick up others. On their way one of the civilian in the van held a pistol against the drivers head and ordered him to stop the vehicle. Fearing for his life, the driver brought the vehicle to an immediate halt and surrendered to the two robbers. The two robbers then gagged the driver by tying up a piece of cloth around his mouth and then blindfolded him. His hands too were tied behind his back and they bundled him into the back seat. Thereafter the monk and the two robbers arrived in the van with the gagged driver at the Hikkaduwa temple to pick up the two monks Amarasntha and Upasantha. Temple scene When they arrived at the temple, the gagged and blindfolded driver was taken out of the vehicle and was put inside a room and locked up. The monk Upali was told by the rest to keep an eye on the man. Thereafter monks Amarasantha, Upasatha and ex-monk Dammalanka got inside the Dolphin van along with Anil and his friend and were now on their way to Udugama. It was around 3.30 a.m. by the time they arrived at Udugama. However when they drove towards the Padukka temple they saw a crowd of around ten persons hanging around near the entrance to the temple. At this stage the monks who saw the crowds decided not to proceed to the temple but to go back to Hikkaduwa again. They promptly ordered the driver to return to the temple at Hikkaduwa. Back at the Hikkaduwa temple the two civilians took the blindfolded driver out of the room and bundled him in to the back seat of the vehicle. Escape The three monks and the two civilians again drove towards Padukka and at a lonely spot decided to leave the vehicle. They left the gagged and the blindfolded driver in the lurch and vanished. After some time the driver managed to free himself and went straight to the Hikkaduwa police and related the episode to the policemen. Under the direction of SSP Galle, Lasatha De Silva a special team headed by Sub Inspector M.S Gunatilleke was detailed to investigate the case. Police subsequently found that monks Amarasantha, Upasantha, Upali and the Ex -monk Dammalanka who had conspired to commit a heinous crime. However they could not proceed to the temple at Udugama when they saw several people near the entrance. Meanwhile the police have arrested two monks in connection with the robbery and were produced in court. Exposed They were remanded till investigations are completed. Police are also searching for four more persons including a monk and an ex monk. It was also revealed that monks Amarasantha, and Upasantha were at logger heads with the newly appointed high priest Jinnawansa at the Udugama temple. The earlier high priest of the Udugama temple who passed away recently had allocated 5 acres of land to monks Upasantha and 2 acres of land to Amarawanse. In fact the two priest were bitter over the appointment of Rev. Jinawansa.
What they planned to do that day was anybody's guess, police said. |
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