Katana Robbery: Four arrested with Rs. 7.2 million in cash – Police

 Pic: Damith Wickramasinghe

• Car, motorbike used for robbery taken into custody
• Rs. 7.2 million in cash, some jewellery recovered
• Rs.19 million in cash and jewellery worth Rs.750,000 had been stolen by an armed gang

By Ajith Siriwardana   

Four suspects including the main suspect of the recent robbery at Akkarapanaha area in Katana were arrested along with the car and the motorbike used for the robbery, Police said yesterday. 

Police Spokesman Jaliya Senaratne told a news conference that Rs.7.2 million in cash and some of the jewellery stolen have been recovered so far. He said Rs.19 million in cash and jewellery worth Rs.750,000 had been stolen by an armed gang who arrived in a car and a motorbike last Wednesday and the Katana police had launched an investigation to arrest the suspects. “We had deployed four police teams to conduct investigations in various aspects with the assistance of technology, to trace the suspects. Five suspects had arrived in the car while two others had arrived on a motorbike. The car belonging to one of the suspects was taken into custody in Gampaha. The motorbike was recovered from Eppawala, with the suspect,” he said. SSP Senaratne said the suspects were arrested from Gampaha, Mawathagama, Nikaweratiya and Eppawala. “The suspect who was arrested at Gampaha was identified as the owner of the car and the one arrested at Eppawala was the owner of the motorbike. The suspect arrested from Mawathagama was identified as a resident of Seeduwa, who had been legally discharged from the army,” he said. He said investigations were still in progress to arrest all the suspects, recover the stolen money & jewellery and seize the weapons used for the robbery.

We had deployed four police teams to conduct investigations