Youth arrested with six swords in car; three suspects flee

Panadura South Police have arrested a suspected member of an organized criminal gang while traveling in a car with six swords.

Police officers had given chase to the suspicious vehicle and made the arrest after intercepting the car in the Thalpitiya area while three other suspects had managed to escape. 

It has been revealed during police interrogations that this group was travelling with the intention of killing a rival group owing to a conflict between two organized criminal gangs over a drug racket.

Based on the information received by SSP Samantha Wedage, the car which was traveling towards Kalutara from Moratuwa was ordered to stop at a special roadblock in the center of Panadura city, however it had ignored police orders and continued to travel towards Kalutara.

A high-ranking police officer said that two specially trained high-speed motorcyclists of the Panadura South Police had then chased the car for a distance of around 5km along Galle Road and the car had then got stuck on a side road near the Thalpitiya Bridge.

Three suspects who were in the car had fled while the other was arrested by police along with 06 sharp swords, 05 black full-face masks, 04 jackets and 04 mobile phones found inside the vehicle.

The arrested suspect has been identified as a 24-year-old resident of Bombuwala area in Kalutara South.

Information has now been revealed that 04 people were traveling with the main suspect in the car with the intention of killing a group of people in the Waskaduwa area, and that two other people were expected to be picked up on the way.

It has been confirmed in the preliminary investigations that the car in question has been obtained from Panadura on rental basis.