Two individuals who were suspected as shooters with firearms arrested after chase

Following the information that two individuals were fleeing after shooting a black colour luxury motor car with a T-56 firearm in the morning of 03 – 07 – 202, at the Kandana city center, immediate measures have been taken by police stations nearby to set up roadblocks in order to search for the suspects.

Accordingly, Officer-in-Charge of Traffic Unit of Dungalpitiya Police Station, Sub Inspector of Police, Mr. Thushara Karunathilaka, together with Police Constable 106749 Weeraratne and Police Constable 106816 Dissanayake, conducted a thorough search at roadblock in Lellama area.

Two men riding a red scooter-type motorcycle with a relatively large bag reached to roadblock in Lellama area from Mankuliya area around 12.40 pm. Police officers signaled the motorcycle to stop, but the motorcyclists disregarded the order and rode the motorcycle at high speed passing the roadblock.

Sub Inspector of Police, Mr. Thushara took immediately actions, disregarding the possible risk on his life, and started chasing the motorcyclists, who were suspected of be the shooters carrying a T-56 weapon. Two Police Constables followed the Officer Thushara with a T-56 weapon loaded with 30 bullets.

The suspects were riding their motorcycle at high speed on the Nelellawatta road that runs through Lellama and collided with a stationary lorry near the place called Morawala. The CCTV footage clearly shows that this occurred due to panic when they realized that their attempt to evade the pursuit of the Sub-Inspector of Police was futile.

When the Sub-Inspector of Police single-handedly grabbed the pillion rider by the neck and arrested him, the two constables who arrived shortly fired a T-56 bullet at the legs of the fleeing suspect who was the rider, as they were well aware of the the time and effort it would take to re-arrest him if he escaped.

As skilled police officers, they had been able to apprehend the fleeing suspects by incapacitating them. When checking the bag in possession of the suspects, a parcel of heroin and a toy pistol had been recovered.

The injured person was admitted to the hospital and is receiving treatment under police protection. As it has been revealed, he is a suspect who has been arrested several times by a number of police stations in the past for possession of cannabis and drugs and with cases pending in court.

Dungalpitiya Police Station has initiated further investigations into these two suspects and the crimes that they were planning to commit using the toy pistol.