More than Rs. 1 million worth of iron tubes have been stolen from a barrier set up by the Army Headquarters at the Polduwa junction to stop the illegal protests and demonstrations coming towards Parliament during the chaos last year. A complaint was lodged at the Welikada Police Station by a Captain of the Army Engineer Corps that a stock of equipment including GI pipes had been stolen.
According to the complaint, these iron tubes were stored in front of the Rajamalwatta Temple. Sidxty-two 19-foot-long GI pipes, nine jacks, 13 scaffolding side frames and 271 GI locks that hold the pipes together have been stolen, according to the complaint. The total value of the stolen property is Rs 1,191,856.
When the complaint about this theft was received by the Police on Saturday (05), the officers of the Crime Division of the Western Province Southern District had arrested two suspects who had stolen these pipes and recovered part of the loot. The two suspects who were arrested on July 28 are two drug addicts residing in Ethulkotte. The Police press office stated that the value of the stolen pipes and equipment is Rs. 2.8 million. The two suspects were presented at the Welikada Police Station. During interrogation, the suspects said that they had stolen only 44 GI pipes. Twenty-eight of the stolen pipes were sold to various people and scrap metal shops, and the officers of the Southern District Crime Division of the Western Province recovered them.
Gayan Kumara Weerasinghe