For a few rupees more

Drama at Hali-Ella:

Hali-Ella is a small town situated in the Badulla district four miles away from the Badulla town surrounded by tea plantations. It used to be a sleepy outpost decades ago when European planters occupied the tea plantations.

The population at Hali-Ella was also less except for Indian tea pluckers who toiled and sweated in the plantations around the clock. When the tea pluckers and coolies got a break they arrived in the Hali-Ella town just to let off steam. It was the only form of recreation and relaxation available to those labourers those days.

It was a common sight those days to see labourers in the town clad in knee length flannel over coats and sarongs with turbans tied around their heads. They were all over the town smoking or sipping tea and chatting nonchalantly inside tea kiosks. They came to town primarily for two reasons, either to purchase their weekly rations or to gulp down Toddy which was available in abundance in those days. There was hardly any serious crime reported during those times except for a few drunken brawls that broke out among them occasionally.

By contrast the town had changed drastically over the years due to the expanse of commercial activities. Today it is bustling with people and with new shops, tea kiosks, commercial banks, and lending institutions that have sprung up in every nook and corner of the town.

People who moved in there from other parts of the country have settled down. Along with the towns prosperity came the underworld gangs who committed serious crimes. During the past decade a surge in crime was reported from the Badulla province. A decade ago a gang that robbed a hotel in the Ella resort area shot dead an ASP who attempted to intervene while the robbery was being committed.

The unfortunate victim was having his dinner at the hotel when the robbers broke in to the hotel. Subsequently police learnt that a service deserter was responsible for the robbery and the killing.

Meanwhile the robbery committed at the Hali-Ella Bank of Ceylon on April 24th sent shudders among it’s employees. The robbery took place around 3. p.m when two persons posing off as customers remained inside the bank. They told the security officer that they were waiting for a relative to call over at the bank with some cash. But when the closing time approached the security officer informed both men to leave the premises.

At this stage the men pulled out a pistols and a hand grenade and threatened to shoot the security officer. Thereafter they ordered him to drop his gun.

Fearing for his life the security officer dropped the gun and the cartridges which the robbers collected. While the drama was unfolding inside the bank four robbers who kept a vigil outside the bank joined the two robbers. The robbers were armed to the teeth. They threatened to shoot the employees including its manager if they did not co-operate with them.

Thereafter they locked up the six employees in a room and got the bank safe and the vaults opened by its manager. The manager was forced to follow their instructions. The robbers thereafter removed the gold jewellery and the cash, which they packed into several bags before escaping.

According to OIC Crimes Badulla police, Inspector A. Jayasekara the total value of the gold jewellery and cash robbed was believed to be around Rs. 5 million. However there is no clue whatsoever as to how the robbers escaped with the loot.

According to SSP Badulla S. Maturata three police teams have been deployed to track down the robbers who got a way with the haul of gold jewellery and cash. Police however suspect that the robbers have come from a distant place to Hali-Ela to stage the robbery.

The three police teams are already fanning across the country to nab the culprits. According to preliminary investigations however the absence of a Close Circuit Television (CCTV) system at the bank had made it easier for the robbers to getaway with the loot without being identified. Owing to this the investigation has become a daunting challenge for police to trace the robbers.

The worst scenario was that the combination locks of the vaults were not in operation when the robbers broke into the bank, police said. Police are also investigating whether it was an inside job, and whether any bank employee had tipped off the robbers about the jewellery and cash.

The investigations have come under a microscope as the dimension to the plot is manifold. SAP S. Maturate of the Badulla Police have directed HI Chief Inspector Asoka Wijeratne, OIC Crimes Inspector Jayasekera and Inspector Bandara to investigate the case.

[email protected]