An urgent report has been sought from the Department of Excise regarding the shooting incident involving a group of Excise officers in the Bambalapitiya area yesterday.
Taking to Twitter, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya that the Commissioner General of Excise has been instructed to provide a report on the incident.
Four officials of the Department of Excise, including an Inspector were arrested by the Police after they had opened fire at a car near Castle Lane on Marine Drive in Bambalapitiya yesterday.
At the time, Spokesperson for the Excise Department, Kapila Kumarasinghe stated that the excise officials had opened fire as part of an operation to apprehend suspects involved in drug trafficking.
“The Excise officials arrested a suspect during a raid in Bambalapitiya while in possession of 150g of heroin. During the incident, another suspect attempted to flee the scene in a car prompting the officials to open fire at the vehicle,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Police stated that the excise officials in civil attire had engaged in a sting operation during which they had sought to apprehend drug traffickers by purchasing drugs from them.
The Police added that however, the Excise officers were found to be without money at the time of their arrest.
The Police had also found the vehicle that had been fired at abandoned near Rohini Road in Wellawatte last night. (NewsWire)