Prison bus shooting: sniffer dogs lead police to abandoned factory
March 1, 2017 12:30 pm
Sri Lanka Police today said that both vehicles allegedly used to carry out the attack on the prison bus in Kalutara have now been found and that the suspects would be arrested within a short time based onteh information uncovered from the owners of the vehicles.
Investigations are being carried out by five police teams from Colombo and Kalutara, under the supervision of Senior DIG (Western Province Crime, Traffic Administration and Road Safety) Nandana Munasinghe.
Police spokesman DIG Priyantha Jayakody said that the Toyota Hiace van, believed to have been used by the suspects who carried out the attack on February 27 to flee the scene, was found abandoned in the Moragahahena area in Horana.
It was uncovered that the vehicle in question had been stolen on January 6 in Maradana after drugging the driver, who was hired to transport several persons to the airport and back.
The vehicle has been carefully transported to be subjected to the process of finding scientific evidence while a glove has also been found inside the van, the police spokesman said in a statement.
Police sniffer dogs had traced the scent of the glove to an abandoned factory, located in the vicinity of where the van was found, which was subsequently thoroughly searched by the Police Special Task Force (STF), he said.
A total of seven persons, including two prison guards and 5 prisoners, were killed after a group of gunmen opened fire at a prison transport bus in Kalutara on February 27.
Notorious underworld gang leader M.P. Aruna Damith Udayanga Pathirana alias “Samayan” was among the prisoners killed in the shooting.
