Cops injured in dog bite during raid in Pupuressa

Two police officers were injured and admitted to the Gampola Hospital after bitten by dogs during a raid to find illicit liquor in Panvilathenna in the Pupurassa Police Division.

The residents of a house in Panvilathenna had reportedly unleashed their dogs on a group of officers of the Gampola Division Criminal Investigation Unit when they raided the house on a tip-off that the occupants were engaged in an illicit liquor racket.

It is said that the police officers had also opened fire when two dogs came at them and one of the shots had hit a 19-year-old boy, the son of the main suspect, allegedly involved in the illegal liquor racket.

He has been admitted to Gampola Hospital with injuries on his left leg due to gunshots.

Police say that the young man injured in the incident and the two police officers who were injured after being bitten by dogs are receiving treatment in the same ward of the Gampola Hospital.

However the owner of the house where the shooting took place said that he saw five or six people with guns jumping from the rear wall into his garden.

“The dog which was loose jumped at them. Police shot the dog and my son who was nearby also got hit on the leg. Then they put handcuffs on my son and took him to a store room. They kept him in the room for around 45 minutes. They did not allow us to take him to hospital. Later the dog also died. Lter after the police left we took him to Panvilatenne hospital” he said. Two police teams have been assignned to probe the incident.

Gampola and Pupuressa police are investigating the incident.