Three persons, including two monks, have been arrested for helping an individual who was in the custody of the Katunayake airport Police over several murders in Sri Lanka, to escape.
The Western Province South Crimes Division stated that the two monks and another person who had operated as the driver of the vehicle transporting the suspect, were arrested in the Hettipola area.
The suspects are the Chief incumbent of the Hettipola Rittadeniya Shri Jaya Lankarama Viharaya, Poththewala Indrasara aged 40, monk Diwulwewa Deepananda aged 38, and 27-year-old Kamburugamuwa Weerasinghe Arachchilage Dhilan from the Kalubowitiyana area in Ambewala.
The Police had seized the vehicle used to escort the wanted suspect, while they had also seized two bags belonging to the suspect who had attempted to flee to Dubai.
The suspect was wanted for shooting to death a hotel owner in the Hanwella area in December 2022. The Police had obtained a travel ban from the court after identifying the suspect and had informed the Department of Immigration and Emigration in this regard.
However, the suspect had attempted to flee to Dubai under a fake identity and was arrested and placed in the custody of the Katunayake airport Police, during which two Buddhist monks had enabled his release and had aided his escape. (NewsWire)