The employees of a liquor store in Inginiyagala town caught three persons, including a Navy personnel who fled the area after buying a bottle of liquor after tendering a fake Rs.5,000 note on Sunday night.
The three suspects were handed over to the Inginiyagala Police. The Inginiyagala Police stated that the Navy personnel were attached to the Thambapanni Camp in Puttalam. The other suspects arrested along with him are residents of Ampara, Namalthalawa.
Police said that the three suspects are aged 23, 25 and 26 respectively. Police also said that one of the suspects, from among those who came to Inginiyagala in a three-wheeler, had gone to the liquor store and handed over a Rs.5,000 note and bought a bottle of liquor.
Before he was given the balance, he had run away with the liquor bottle and got into a three-wheeler with two others, which sped away. The liquor store employees who were suspicious checked the note and found it to be a fake.
The liquor store employees had then given chase after the three-wheeler on motorbikes and caught the three people in it. Subsequently, the three people were handed over to the Police.
Police said that during the examination of the three suspects, they found four more fake notes in the possession of the Navy personnel. Investigations have revealed that the fake note, which was used by the Navy personnel to buy the bottle of liquor, had been printed with the help of a computer. Investigations are underway to take the devices including the computer that printed the notes into Police custody.