Schoolboys figure prominently in ransom drama

The parents of a schoolgirl at Moratuwa met the Superintendent of Police, Mount Lavinia Division, Ravindra Karawita who gave a patient hearing to their complaint last week.

The parents were in a state of shock and agitation and began narrating the threat made to them by an underworld man.

The girl’s mother said while she was at home, a man rang up her mobile phone and introduced himself as an underworld man.

The man told her that a businessman had offered him a contract to abduct her 15 year old daughter and kill her.

Grudge

He told her that the businessman had a grudge against her family and he promised to pay him a Rs. 5 million for the job.The underworld man told her that he felt sympathetic towards the girl having seen her at her home and was not willing to abduct and kill her owing to her tender age. But he demanded of Rs. 3 lakhs to be paid to him to be shared with another colleague. Thereafter, the man kept ringing her several times, reminding her of the imminent danger that would befall her daughter and to keep her out from harm’s way.

The mother told SP Karawita that their daughter was a 15 - year -old girl studying at an international school at Moratuwa and they feared very much for her safety.

The underworld man had threatened to abduct and kill her if Rs. 3 lakhs was not paid to him, she said.

Experience

SP Karawita, a former head of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) had enough experience in dealing with this type of cases for several years.

He pondered for a while and called Sub Inspector Kumar Nalawansa of the District Crime Bureau of the Mount Lavinia who had a reputation for solving complex crimes in the area. SI Nalawansa was instructed to investigate the ransom demand by an underworld man and arrest the suspect.

SP Karawita directed the couple over to the District Crime Bureau of Mount Lavinia and to meet its OIC Sub Inspector Nalawansa, following a complaint by the mother on December 24, 2011.

OIC Nalawansa obtained a court order to trace the mysterious and anonymous caller. After making discreet inquiries for some time, the OIC learnt the call had originated from a home situated on the 6th lane at Rawathawatte, Moratuwa. Following the revelation, undercover policemen were detailed to keep the home under surveillance to keep a tab on the inmates. As days rolled by policemen were able to observe the movements of its inmates. What struck them was a sturdy looking schoolboy whom they followed for several weeks and learnt he was a student of a leading school at Moratuwa.

The boy of 17 years had toured Germany and participated in several athletic meets. Although the police had a vague notion that the boy was behind the ransom demand they did not want to question him right away. It could have jeopardised the on-going investigations, thought OIC Nalawansa. Instead the police kept following him until he was caught accepting the ransom money. The police advised the woman to keep talking to the underworld man and indicate her willingness to pay the ransom money.

Unaware that he was being watched closely, the underworld man rang up the woman again last week while Sub Inspector Nalawansa and his party was at the home of the complainant. The call came around 4 p.m. The OIC heard the unwavering voice of the underworld man who sounded very much like a teenager.

He demanded Rs. 3 lakhs from her if her daughter was to be spared. But when the woman indicated her willingness to pay him Rs. 3 lakhs, the underworld man told her to bring the cash to the Bo Tree junction at Moratuwa.

The police had to act quickly if they were to nab the culprit as time was running out.

The policemen hurriedly packed a bag with fake paper notes along with a few genuine notes and instructed the woman to proceed to the Bo Tree junction at Moratuwa in her car, accompanied by her husband.

A team of policemen in mufti accompanied by Sub Inspector Nalawansa followed the couple in a vehicle. However, when the couple reached the Bo Tree junction, they were instructed again to proceed to a stretch of a beach at Lunawa.

The time now was around 5.30. p.m. OIC Nalawansa, realising the urgency of the situation quickly despatched two women constables and two male constables to the Lunawa beach to pose as lovers.

While the couples took up position at the Lunawa beach and kept a wary eye on the surroundings, the underworld man rang the woman again and warned her that he suspected the couples on the beach were policemen.

When the woman assured him that she wasn’t aware of any policemen, the underworld man told her to proceed near the Prince of Wales College parapet wall and dump the bag containing the cash into a dustbin.

By then, twilight had set in and it was getting dark. The couple drove to the parapet wall and dumped the bag into the dustbin as instructed and watched for a while. Just then a boy appeared from nowhere and snatched the bag while another boy who accompanied him fell into the drain when policemen pounced on them.

Sub Inspector Nalawansa who was in the school premises rushed to the spot and arrested the boy who had fallen into the drain while the other escaped with the ‘cash’.

On being searched, the schoolboy had three condoms in his wallet, police said.

He admitted that he was connected to the woman from whom he demanded a ransom of Rs. 3 lakhs. It was further revealed that the couple came from a wealthy background and the boy wanted to scare them and extort money. Police launched a dusk to dawn operation and caught the boy who got away with the ‘cash’ on the Lunawa beach along with the loot, thus ending the ransom drama.

The suspects were later produced in court and the case will be called shortly.