Women drugged, robbed and dumped in wells: Five arrested

March 24, Daily Mirror - The Kokkadicholai Police, in coordination with the Eastern Province Crimes Division, have arrested five suspects, including a woman, in connection with a chilling series of robberies that left one woman dead and another hospitalised after being thrown into a well.

Police said the investigation was launched on March 20, when police discovered two women inside a well in the Kulluvinamadu area of Nellikkadu. One victim was found dead, while the second woman was rescued and rushed to the Batticaloa Hospital for treatment.

According to the police, the suspects targeted lone female travellers by offering them transport in a three-wheeler.

Once inside, the victims were offered drinks spiked with an unknown substance. When the victims lost consciousness, the suspects robbed them of their gold jewellery before dumping their bodies into a water-filled well to conceal the crime.

The deceased victim, a resident of Kaluwanchikudy, was reportedly abducted on February 28 while returning from a bank and a government hospital. In a separate incident on March 19, the second victim was lured into the vehicle along with her three-year-old child under the guise of a friendly lift to Batticaloa.

After drugging and robbing the mother, the suspects threw her into the well and abandoned the toddler alone in a paddy field in the Vavunathivu area. Fortunately, the child was later found unharmed.

Police arrested the main suspects, two men aged 22 and 34 from Navatkaddu and Batticaloa, and a 26-year-old woman on Sunday.

Two other men, aged 39 and 49, were also taken into custody for possessing and disposing of the stolen gold jewellery.

The Police said that the stolen items have been recovered, and further investigations are ongoing.