One suspect, who was involved in stealing a van from Mattegoda and shot at by Army personnel at Pinwatte checkpoint last night (29), has died while receiving treatment at the hospital, the Police Media stated.
Meanwhile, the other suspect, who fled during the arrest last night, has been taken into police custody.
A suspect fleeing during an arrest was injured as Army personnel posted at the checkpoint at Pinwatte had opened fire on a van that had disregarded orders last night (29).
The raid was launched to arrest the suspects who had stolen a van from Mattegoda area.
The owner of the van had lodged a complaint with the Mattegoda Police that the vehicle in question was stolen at Kirigampamunuwa, Mattegoda and the suspects had fled afterwards.
The police had managed to locate the stolen vehicle in the Pinwatte area in Panadura with the use of GPS trackers.
Four officers of Anguruwatota Police had subsequently chased the stolen van.
At the checkpoint in Wadduwa police division, the Army personnel and Wadduwa police officers had signaled the van to stop.
However, the suspects had disobeyed the orders and intentionally injured two Army personnel by crashing the van into them.
When the van was stopped at the checkpoint in Pinwatte by the Walana police officers, the two suspects had attempted to flee leaving the van behind.
Two Army personnel of the Wadduwa checkpoint had also arrived at the scene and opened fire at the fleeing suspects.
Accordingly, one suspect sustained gunshot injuries while the other fled.
Panadura Police is probing the incident further, police media spokesperson commented.
