A police constable involved in a large-scale racket of selling Japanese auto spare parts stolen from the police garage at Narahenpita was arrested by Narahenpita Police on Tuesday evening.
Investigations have revealed that this constable named S. B. Madushanka Dias who works
in the police garage had been stealing auto spare parts from the police garage for some time.
According to a tip-off received regarding this racket, a team of police officers from the Narahenpita Police, was lying in wait at the gate on the Dabare Mawatha side of the garage on March 7. Two people who come from the garage on a motorcycle were checked. At that time, they had a cardboard box in their hands. Three clutch plates worth Rs.150,000 used in Japanese-made jeeps, were found inside the box.
These two suspects are residents of Habaraduwa and Poddala. The resident of Habaraduwa is a 32-year-old named Dulaj Sameera. He is said to be engaged in landscape gardening. The Poddala resident D.M. Weerawardena is 44 years.
When the mobile phones of these two suspects were checked, it was discovered that an officer named Dias, working at the Narahenpita Police Garage, was connected to stealing and selling these vehicle spare parts. Investigations have also revealed that the said officer had continuously given auto spare parts to these suspects. It was revealed further that even vehicle batteries had been stolen from the garage and every vehicle spare part stolen had been brand new.
Accordingly, the officer named Dias was arrested day before yesterday evening. A senior police officer said that it appears that the officer named Dias is not engaged in this racket alone and that other persons are involved.
The officer also mentioned that if a proper audit is carried out at the police garage, it will be possible to reveal the details of many such frauds taking place in the garage.