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Vehicle thefts....

Major racket uncovered
 

It was somewhere in October when three men decided to rob a Tipper lorry belonging to a Building Construction Company in Kegalle. One night, they met at a lonely spot in Matale and planned their strategy in carrying out the robbery.

The men finally decided to rob the vehicle while it was being hired for a job in the Matale area. So the following day the three men called over at the Building Construction Company in Kegalle and hired the Tipper vehicle saying that they have to transport some sand for a construction job at Matale.

Thereafter, the three men boarded the Tipper vehicle which was on its way to Matale. The Tipper vehicle was driven by a driver employed by the Company. While the vehicle was on its way to Matale, somewhere near Pussellawa one of the men suddenly brandished a pistol and threatened to kill its driver.

The driver begged for mercy and told the robbers not to harm him as the lorry does not belong to him. The robbers then pushed him out of the vehicle and drove off with the vehicle to Hambantota where their leader resided.

The gang leader was the mastermind behind the vehicle racket operation. Those who worked for him acted as mere pawns carrying out his instructions. Their job was robbing vehicles from many parts of the country.

Mastermind behind the operation

Meanwhile, the robbers were in for a shock when they reached Hambantota. They learnt that their gang leader was in police custody in connection with transporting five kilos of Cannabis Sativa (Ganja).

The question that ran through their minds was whether to stay back in Hambantota or else go somewhere else. Finally, they decided to proceed to Matale to sell the Tipper Lorry to a businessman.

The hapless driver found his way back to Kegalle and narrated the incident to his proprietor who lodged a complaint at the Kegalle police station. The matter was then referred to DIG, Sabaragamuwa Range, Neville Wijesinghe for further action.

DIG Wijesinghe directed the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to probe into the incident and report back to him. Soon, a team of police officers from the SIU were hunting high and low for the robbers.

While all this was happening a smart idea dawned upon the robbers. They thought the best possible way to cover up their tracks was to paint the Tipper lorry in a different colour to make it obscure to prevent identification. So they took the vehicle to a garage and the re-painting process began.

In the meantime the police team from Ratnapura was tipped off that the three robbers were seen at a garage in Matale town. Police picked up the lead and arrested one robber from Pilimitalawe in Matale area.

Police questioned the suspect and learnt that the other two suspects resided at Pilimatalawe and Ukuwela areas. Subsequently they too were arrested and questioned. They were later brought before courts and remanded till the completion of investigations.

Chain of events

The arrest set off a chain of events that led to the recovery of a stolen vehicle from a rent-a-car service at Peliyagoda. More stolen vehicles are to be recovered from different parts of the country. It was revealed that the three member gang had robbed vehicles from Narahenpita, Peliyagoda, Kegalle, Hambantota and Ratnapura areas. Smart work done by the Ratnapura Special Investigation Unit had unearthed a major racket involving the thefts of vehicles.

A couple of years ago the Director of Special Crime Operational Unit at Police Headquarters arrested two persons known as "Dolphin Brothers" involved in thefts and vehicle robberies. They robbed Mitsubishi Pajeros, Inter-coolers, Toyota Prado Land Cruisers from the Western Province and sent them to the Vannai area controlled by the Liberation of Tamil Tiger Eleam (LTTE).

They had robbed luxury vehicles from distant places like Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee and sold them to brokers in the Vanni region.

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