A group of tractor drivers and their helpers, who pleaded guilty to transporting sand excavated from the Deduru Oya, were sentence to a three-month imprisonment suspended for 10 years, on Monday evening. The suspects were also fined Rs.10,000 each by Kurunegala High Court Judge Menaka Wijesundara.
The arrests had been made on March 30, 2006, during the Wayamba Provincial Council elections.
In addition, the judge ordered the accused to pay Rs.30,000 each as compensation to Rasnayakapura OIC Pradeep Karunaratne, who had been injured during the raid. They would receive an additional six-month jail term in default of payment of the compensation.
The suspects were identified as residents of Kobeygane and Wariyapola. State Counsel Charaka Dharmasiri told court that they had attacked the police with shovels during the raid. The injured police officers had been admitted to the Nikaweratiya Base Hospital, and that the OIC had later been transferred to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital. His left eye had been injured in the attack.
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