Youthful partygoers thwart bank robbery

One suspect captured, another killed in police shooting

June 13, 2012,

By Norman Palihawadane

One person was killed when police opened fire on an armed gang that attempted to rob the Battaramulla branch of the Bank of Ceylon yesterday.

One member of the gang had been nabbed while another had fled, police said.

The deceased has been identified as R. S. Mahesh, a soldier attached to the Chundikulam Army Camp. The 22-year-old soldier was on leave at the time of the incident.

The attempt to rob the bank was foiled by the police who were alerted by four other youth who happened to go past the bank in a three wheeler on their way back  to Dehiwela from a party in Battaramulla. They had noticed the suspicious movements of a person standing opposite the bank, near Sethsiripaya in Battaramulla, the police said. Another person had been in a three wheeler outside the bank.

The youth had slowed down their vehicle to inquire from the person outside if there was a problem when they heard a sound, from inside the bank, of a glass breaking. They got hold of the lookout and phoned the Talangama police that the bank was being robbed. The other suspect, who was in the three-wheeler, made good his escape.

Police rushed to the scene and surrounded the bank building, They then ordered the suspects inside the building to come out. At this moment the suspect came out and hurled a grenade towards the policemen forcing them to open fire.

The attacker who was injured in the shooting had been admitted to Colombo National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, police said.

Acting on information divulged by the suspect in custody, police traced the address of the deceased and found the three-wheeler which had fled the scene, parked there. The suspect who fled in that vehicle has gone missing and the police are searching for him.