Girl kidnapped, civilian joins police rescue operation

It was with much trepidation that we listened to a mother who narrated the spine-chilling story of how her three-year-old daughter Swastika was rescued by policemen from the clutches of death in the Arachchikatuwa last week. She related the hair-raising story at a press conference at the Senior DIG's office in Colombo last week.

The Police Media Spokesman, Superintendent of Police, Ajith Rohana and the police rescue team that consisted of OIC Mundalama Police Station, Inspector Sujewa Alawatte and his team of policemen along with the Headquarters Inspector (HQI) of the Puttalama police station, Chief Inspector Kingsly Gunesekera participated in the conference.

Ajith Rohana SP said the idea of hosting a conference was to send a strong message to all parents to exercise vigilance at all times on their children who often fall prey to criminals.

A civilian from Archchikatuwa who risked his life in the rescue operation also came in for praise from Ajith Rohana SP for his gallantry.

The harrowing incident took place at Mundalama, a remote village in the Puttalama area on February 22. Following the sudden disappearance of Swastica, a three - year - old girl from a pre-school at Mundalama, the mother of the child lodged a complaint at the Mundalama police station around 12 noon. She made inquiries and had come to know that a close relative of hers had taken away the little girl from the preschool before she went to fetch her daughter.

The man had taken away the girl on his motorcycle. Whilst making the complaint the woman told Inspector Sujewa Alawatte that her husband was away in Italy.

She told him that she had no knowledge whatsoever of her daughter Swastica for more than 24 hours until a man telephoned her on the following evening.

The man at the other end demanded Rs. 50 lakhs for the release of the child. “His voice was unwavering when he demanded the money for the release of my daughter,” she told Inspector Alawatte.

Ransom demand

Mundalama police got in touch with the Senior DIG of the North Western Province, Pujitha Jayasundera who studied the ransom demand considering the sensitive nature of the case. A wrong move could botch the whole operation and endanger the life of the child, he thought.

The Senior DIG, along with SSP Putalama Anura Abeywickrema mapped out a plan to apprehend the suspect and provided the logistical support for the operation.

Hand-picked policemen with proven track records of solving serious crime were despatched immediately to Mundalama police station to lend support to Inspector Alawatte.

The police teams got cracking and worked tirelessly round the clock to track down the culprit. They monitored telephone conversations and followed several leads that led them on the trail of the suspect. By now the police had a vague picture of the suspect who they were looking for.

Investigation

OIC Mundalama, Inspector Sujewa Alawatte said they commenced investigation following the complaint lodged at the police station regarding the abduction of a three-year-old girl Swastica from pre-school at Mundalama.

It was situated about 500 metres from the Mundalama police station. The police teams soon began scanning photographs from an album which the mother possessed. “We were able to identify the suspect that we were looking for.

We were horrified to learn that the suspect was none other than a relative of the girl's mother”. Police subsequently learnt that the suspect along with his mistress had planned the abduction to extort Rs 50 lakhs from the girl's father who was employed in Italy. He said several plain clothes policemen from his intelligence unit were rushed to Negombo and the Seeduwa that night itself in a vehicle following a tip off that the suspect was seen there.

“We were able to identify the numbers of three mobile phones that he used and the number plate of the motor cycle he rode.

The mobile phone companies provided information to us on a court directive. We learnt that the suspect had phoned the girl's mother from Seeduwa area.” The suspect had phoned the girls mother again and informed that he was going abroad.

"Following this information we alerted the Bandaranike International Airport (BIA) police and the Immigration and the Emigration Department to detain the suspect if found at the airport.” Inspector Alawatte said.

The police teams searched high and low for the man in the Negombo and in the Seeduwa areas but their effort to trace him proved futile.

He was nowhere to be seen in the area. Next day the man phoned the woman again and instructed her to bring the money to the Arachchikatuwa town. OIC Alawatte briefed SSP Anura Abeywickrema on the latest developments of the case. The OIC said that it was prudent to hand over the ransom soon to save the child's life.

Thereafter on the instructions of the OIC, the mother begged the man to reduce the amount as she could not afford it. Finally, the man agreed to accept Rs 10 lakhs to free the child from bondage.

The man told her to bring along the money to Archchikattuwa and warned her to keep away from the police.

Trap

It was on February 24, that OIC Alawatte laid a trap along with the logistical support provided HQI Puttalama, Chief Inspector Kingsley Gunesekra to nab the suspect at Archchikattuwa. Police provided the woman with a vehicle to travel to Archchikattuwa along with a police decoy who had Rs 10 lakhs in his possession.

Several policemen in mufti including OIC Alawatte and Chief Inspector Kingsley Gunesekera followed the woman and her husband in private vehicles.

When they arrived at Archchikattuwa they spotted the suspect on a motor cycle with his mistress and the three-year-old girl sandwiched between them.

They were in a state of agitation waiting in a street corner for the arrival of the woman with the cash.

At this point OIC Alawatte made an attempt to obstruct the motorcycle with his van. But the motor cyclist veered off and rode in the direction of Bangadeniya-Anamaduwa road. “We followed him in our vehicles. Whilst giving chase, a civilian Suraj Soysa also joined the police team.” said Inspector Alawatte. However, the suspect panicked when he saw a convoy of vehicles trailing his motorcycle. To avoid the policemen, he accidentally turned into a road with a dead end and was cornered by the police. The man fell off the motorcycle with the child and his mistress when he was overpowered by OIC Alawatte.

Police found a live hand grenade and an empty bag in his possession when he was searched.

The mother breathed a sigh of relief when the police finally handed over her three-year-old daughter Swastica to her. She wept uncontrollably and hugged the little girl as she could not bear the trauma and agony that she went through for nearly four days. “Swastica's father arrived from Italy on the day the child was rescued.

He was in tears when he called over at the Mundalama police station to take his child”. OIC Alawatte said.

K.M. Sarathchandran, Swastica's father with tears in his eyes said he heard the terrible news around 6.a.m on February 24 while he was in Italy. “My friends in Italy encouraged and helped me to come to Sri Lanka.

They even helped me to get a seat in an plane that arrived in Sri Lanka without delay. “When I arrived in Sri Lanka I was so happy to learn that my daughter was rescued and was in safe custody of my wife.

It is when you live abroad that you begin to realise how precious your children are.” he said. The police Media Spokesman, SP, Ajith Rohana also paid a glowing tribute to Suraj Soysa a civilian who took part in the risky rescue operation to save the child.

“This would not have happened if the pre-school teachers refrained from handing over the girl to a strange man.

They could have phoned the girl's mother before handing over the child.” he said. The suspect was produced before the Acting Magistrate Negombo and was remanded till March 6.