Rs. 70 million heist, security lapses revealed:

Rs. 2.5 m reward to apprehend suspects

By Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Colombo Crime Division (CCD) sleuths investigating the second biggest heist in the country where robbers got away with Rs. 70 million at Wanawasala, Hunupitiya are optimistic that the leader of the gang will be apprehended soon. Sleuths have also unearthed evidence that the lorry driver was a resident of Wanawasala where the robbery took place. He is being grilled. However, sleuths are a bit tightlipped about revealing the identity of the suspect as it could jeopardise the ongoing investigations.

Five police teams have fanned out across the country in pursuit of the robbers, while another team from the Peliyagoda police are also on their trail. Although there was a heavy shower at the time of the robbery, Finger print experts have found some prints on the vehicle which they are examining closely to match them with those of noted criminals, police sources told the Sunday Observer.

The van with the money

According to the police the bank had entrusted the task of replenishing cash at Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in the Western Province to a private company. The company in turn had hired another security company for the job. "We are probing into several security lapses committed by the security officers.

The vehicle transporting the cash had veered off the main road and travelled along the Hunupitiya-Wanawasala Road instead of travelling on the main road. We are probing as to why they travelled on such a lonely stretch of road carrying Rs. 70 million at the dead of night", police said.

Robbery on September 23

The robbery took place on September 23, when a lorry transporting Rs. 70 million cash escorted by two security officers, a cashier, a machine operator and the driver left Borella around 10 p.m. and arrived at Negombo late at night. The team having replenished the ATM machines with cash travelled back to Wattala where they replenished cash at the ATM and were on their way to Kelaniya.

The security officers and the driver had been entrusted to travel on main roads mapped out by them.

They were asked not to travel on any other roads, police said. However, the driver and the two security officers chose to travel along the Wattala-Hunupitiya Road defying instructions. To reach Kelaniya on the day of the incident, the driver took the Wattala-Wanawasala Road and arrived at the Thelangapatha Road as the distance was less.

The lorry driver had used the same route for more than two years to go to the Thorana Junction, Kelaniya, police said.

The heist took place at a lonely culvert called Aluwakella in the Thelangapatha area, close to Wanawasala. When the lorry arrived at the spot around 12.20 a.m., the driver had noticed a policeman and a Civil Defence Force officer near the culvert.

The policeman thereupon signalled the driver to stop the vehicle. The robbers were clad in uniforms similar to those worn by policemen and Civil Defence Force officers. No sooner the vehicle came to a halt then the driver disembarked and walked towards the policeman.

At this crucial moment three men clad in civvies arrived and stood near the doors of the vehicle to prevent anyone leaving the lorry.

Robbers take charge

The robbers seized the two shotguns and cartridges from the security officers. Thereafter, the driver was ordered to the back seat of the vehicle, while they tied him along with the remaining crew in the vehicle.

A robber then got into the driver's seat while another robber got into the vehicle. A robber drove the vehicle while three robbers on two motorcycles escorted the vehicle to a lonely spot at Wanawasala.

When the vehicle came to a halt the cashier with the keys was ordered to disembark and open the rear door of the vehicle.

The robbers then took the plastic boxes containing Rs. 1,000 notes and having packed them into bags, sped away on the motorcycles. According to the crew members in the lorry, one of the robbers had a T-56 weapon.

The entire operation took only 45 minutes, the police said. A few minutes later the crew crawled out of the lorry and sought the help of people in a nearby house to untangle and free themselves. A manhunt has been already launched to arrest the five-member gang.

Police are investigating whether the lorry crew had connived with the robbers to get away with the haul of cash without a shot being fired at them. There had been several security lapses on the part of security company.

Company officials had not taken to task the crew member for taking alternative routes, the police said. The two security offices are being grilled as to why they had failed to open fire at the robbers when their weapons were seized.

It was subsequently revealed that the security offices had cartridges in their trouser pockets. The lorry crew of the security company are residents of Wanawasala, Kadawatha, Slave Island, Colombo and Wattala. The two security officers employed by the company are former soldiers.

IGP Mahinda Balasooriya has offered a Rs. 2.5 million reward for anybody giving information which would lead to the arrest of the suspects. This was the second biggest heist reported in recent times where robbers had got away with Rs. 70 million belonging to a private bank. The biggest heist in recent times was committed by a gang at Kotadeniyawa police area.

A van transporting Rs. 100 million was robbed at gun point. The mastermind of the operation had been an ex-serviceman who had Rs. 8 million in his refrigerator at his residence in Balapitiya. When the police raided the house, he was arrested by a police team from Galle.