A Police officer was killed while two other Policemen and two bystanders were injured in a shootout between the Police and an armed gang that robbed a jewellery store on Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha, Matara last morning (22).
The Matara Police had been alerted while the robbery was taking place and a team of Policemen were able to reach the scene as the gang was making their getaway.
On seeing the Police officers the robbers had opened fire and in the ensuing gun battle, three Police officers and two civilians were injured.
All five had been admitted to the Matara District General Hospital while the severely injured Policeman later succumbed.It is reported that all the gang members were armed with automatic weapons.
The exact number who had taken part in the robbery was not known but they had been able to make their escape from the scene with their injured.
One member of the gang members who has been identified as Chamara was apprehended by the Police in Hunukotuwa a few hundred metres away from the scene.
Meanwhile, Police last evening succeeded in apprehending three members of the criminal gang including a underworld figure ‘Kosgoda Tharaka’ who were involved in the robbery at the Matara jewellery shop.
The suspects were arrested after being admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital.
Kosgoda Tharaka is wanted in connection with a number of murders and several other crimes in the Southern Province.
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