KUWAIT CITY, July 2: Five Sri Lankan expatriates were arrested for their involvement in a theft that was carried out wherein one among them stole KD 60,000 from an armored vehicle at the airport.

Reportedly, the armored vehicle that was driven by two employees had KD 570,000 cash, which the employees collected from various communication companies and banks. At Kuwait International Airport, when one employee went to collect the money from a telecommunication company, the other, identified as Abdul Amir, escaped with the vehicle. The vehicle was eventually found abandoned at an isolated area near the airport and KD 60,000 was missing from the vehicle.

According to security sources, high-ranking officials prioritized this case and investigations were on full swing to capture the suspect and retrieve the stolen money.

They revealed that several security teams were formed to investigate the case and the Ministry of Interior had blacklisted and placed a travel ban on the main suspect at all borders.

Meantime, securitymen were following up on his cell phone activity through the satellite and eventually they managed to locate his hiding place in Hawally when he made a call from his cell phone.

Securitymen rushed to the location and arrested the main suspect.
Lankans held in armored car heist

During interrogations, he confessed to the crime and revealed that he had planned this theft with two other expatriates of same nationality whereby they decided to carry out the theft on June 24, 2012.

He said that after he stole the money from the vehicle, he contacted his partners and they hid in Egaila for a while with the help of another expatriate.

He revealed that he gave some amount to an unidentified individual to help his girlfriend leave the country as she had a travel ban registered in her name. He also gave KD 5,000 to her and she managed to leave the country. However, the individual who helped her leave the country is absconding and securitymen are carrying out investigations to arrest him.

When the suspect revealed that he and his partners sent KD 10,000 to their country through a cargo containing baby milk powder, securitymen immediately contacted the cargo company and managed to stop the departure of cargo from the country in time. They were able to retrieve the stolen amount of KD 10,000.

The officials also managed to retrieve KD 30,000 from the apartment, which the suspects were planning to send to their country in batches.

Efforts made by the officers from Ministry of Interior to arrest the suspects and retrieve the stolen money within a short time were lauded by senior officials. (Source: Arab Times Online)