Police hand in Murunkan robberies alleged

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 September 2002, 17:18 GMT]
The Mannar magistrate Sunday remanded a Police constable accused of robbing a shop in the Murunkan town. The PC was caught by the townspeople Saturday night around 8.30 p.m. while robbing a grocery. A tense standoff developed late Saturday night between the townspeople who had tied up the PC and more than 300 Police who had surrounded them, demanding the robber’s release. Murunkan residents and traders allege that the Police have been regularly robbing shops in the town for more than three years with impunity.

“Many of our shops were robbed in the past in this manner. We have always lodged complaints about the robberies at the Murunkan Police station. But the Police took no effort to investigate or to catch the thieves. The Murunkan town would empty by 4.30 p.m. before the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE signed the ceasefire agreement. There was no one in the town except the Police. It was hence very obvious that the Police had a direct hand in the robberies”, a trader said.

“The Police came in strength to get the PC released because they were scared that the truth would be out,” he added.

The town’s people refused to hand over the robber to the hundreds of Policemen who had surrounded them Saturday night. Several traders had meanwhile called the regional Police headquarters in Vavuniya and explained the situation.

The robber was handed over to the Murunkan Police around 2.30 a.m. after the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) came to the town from Vavuniya and spoke to the traders and youth who had tied up the PC.

The Mannar magistrate Mr. M. P Mohideen remanded the Policeman, Kasturiaarachilage Nimal, 37, until 25 September.