A 16-year-old girl has been reported dead in Gampola, after being attacked allegedly over a love affair.

According to the Police, the girl had been attacked with a sharp object while at her house last night.

The girl is a resident of the Panvilathenna area in Millagahamula, Gampola. 

Preliminary investigations reveal that the girl was murdered over a dispute related to a love affair.

The suspect has been identified. The Gampola Police are conducting further investigations. (Newswire)

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Police investigations reveal that a 36-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a car that was involved in an accident in Gampola yesterday, in which three elderly women were killed.

According to the Police, the woman, with a learner’s permit, had been driving the vehicle, along with her husband and two young children, at the time of the accident.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the woman had accidentally stepped on the accelerator, instead of the brake, resulting in a collision with the victims and a lorry.

It is reported that the car had hit four elderly women walking on the side of the road, crashed into a lorry parked on the side of the road, and had eventually stopped after crashing into a wall.

The victims were four elderly women who had attended religious observances at the Doluwa Sri Bimbarama Temple and had stepped outside to use the toilet placed outside the temple. 

Among the four victims, three had died on the spot, while one woman with injuries was admitted to the Kanady General Hospital. The deceased are residents of Gampola, aged between 67 and 70 years.

The woman who drove the car has been arrested in connection with the accident, while the Gampola Police are conducting further investigations. (Newswire)

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The opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), has established power in the Gampola Urban Council and the Bentota Pradeshiya Sabha.

During the inaugural session of the Gampola Urban Council, SJB candidate Hiruka Weeraratne was elected Mayor of the council.

He was elected with a majority of votes during the elections held today. 

Meanwhile, SJB candidate Lasantha Wijewardena was elected the Chairman of the Bentota Pradeshiya Sabha. 

He was elected with a majority of votes during the elections held during the inaugural session of the council today. 

The SJB had secured a majority of seats in both local councils in the 2025 Local Government Elections. (Newswire)

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The Sri Lanka Police has felicitated a youth who had attempted to rescue a 19-year-old girl who was abducted in the Davulagala area in Gampola in January. 

The youth, who had sustained several injuries in the incident, was recognized for his heroic rescue attempt.

Video footage emerged of the girl being kidnapped by a group in a van on 11 January, with many social media users praising the youth for his brave attempt to rescue the schoolgirl.

At the time, Police investigations revealed that the main suspect in the abduction was the girl’s relative from her paternal side, and it was caused over marriage issues. (Newswire)

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The first phase of Sri Lanka’s first cable car project is expected to be completed by October this year, it was reported. 

This was revealed during the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong’s visit to Ambuluwawa, Gampola on Sunday (23 Mar) for an inspection of the project.

During the visit, the Chinese Ambassador met the Chairman of the Ambuluwawa Trust and Parliamentarian Anuradha Jayaratne.

Engaging with the Chinese Ambassador, MP Jayaratne said the project, of which a feasibility study was completed 18 years ago, is now becoming a reality due to the involvement of Chinese and American investors.

“The cable car service would be expanded to the Gampola Railway Station. This is to provide a break at Gampola for foreign tourists travelling to Nuwara Eliya. These tourists will be able to enjoy a cable car ride to Ambuluwawa,” he added. 

Sri Lanka’s first cable car project covers a distance of 1.8 km between the Ambuluwawa Religious and Biodiversity Complex to the summit of the Ambuluwawa Hill and then connects to the Ambuluwawa Agrarian Tower. (Newswire)

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The 19-year-old schoolgirl who was recently abducted in the Davulagala area in Gampola has been found and taken into Police custody.

The Police said the suspect involved in the abduction was also taken into Police custody this morning. 

According to the Police, the duo had been taken into custody while waiting in an air-conditioned bus that was to leave for Kandy from the Ampara bus stand. 

The Police said the abductor had informed the girl that he was sending her home and had boarded the bus to Kandy, while he had also threatened her to remain quiet. 

The girl was kidnapped by a group in a van on Saturday morning (11 Jan), which was caught on a CCTV camera installed in the area. 

Police investigations revealed she had been residing at a hostel in the Handessa area, and had been abducted at a time when she and a friend had been leaving for school.

It was also found that the main suspect in the abduction was the girl’s relative from her paternal side, and it was caused over marriage issues.

Soon after, the Police arrested the driver of the van, while also taking into custody the vehicle used for the abduction.  

Three Police teams had also been deployed to find the missing girl and her abductors. (Newswire)

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A youth who had attempted to rescue a 19-year-old girl who was abducted in the Davulagala area in Gampola recently, has sustained several injuries due to his rescue attempt.

Speaking to the media, the youth said he had partially climbed into the vehicle and had fought with the abductors trying to get them to release the girl.

He said there were three persons inside the back of the vehicle at the time of the abduction, but they had continued to drive off, eventually pushing him out of the vehicle.

The youth said he had fallen onto the road, during which he had sustained injuries to his face, hands, and leg. 

Video footage emerged of the girl being kidnapped by a group in a van on Saturday morning (11 Jan). Many social media users had praised the youth for his brave attempt to rescue the schoolgirl.

Police investigations revealed she had been residing at a hostel in the Handessa area, and had been abducted at a time when she and a friend had been leaving for school.

The Police said it has also been found that the main suspect in the abduction was the girl’s relative from her paternal side, and it was caused over marriage issues.

The driver of the van has been arrested as of now, while the vehicle used for the abduction has also been taken into Police custody. However, the whereabouts, of the missing girl and the suspects remain unknown.

Three Police teams have been deployed to find the missing girl and her abductors. (Newswire)

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A 09-year-old child has died after falling into an abandoned well at a house in Gampola on Monday (Apr 15).

According to the Police, the incident had occurred when the child had visited his grandmother’s house.

The deceased child is a resident of Torrington Avenue in Colombo 07.

The Gampola Police is conducting investigations into the death. (Newswire)

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A 5-year-old student has been reported dead after a tree collapsed on a group of students at an international school.

According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), three other students sustained injuries in the incident.

The injured students have been admitted to a hospital in Gampola. 

The DMC further said that the incident had occurred at an international school in Gampola. (NewsWire)

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A minor tremor has been reported in the Gampola area, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau stated.

According to the bureau, a minor tremor of magnitude 2 had been reported last night.

The minor tremor has taken place at around 10.49 p.m. on Monday (June 05), with its epicentre in Pupuressa.

The seismic meters installed in Mahakanadarawa, Hakmana, Pallekelle and Buddhangala have recorded the quake. (NewsWire)

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Police are on the lookout for a 22-year-old woman who has been missing for days in Elpitiya, Gampola.

The missing woman has been identified as Fathima Munawwara, a resident of Weligalla, Elpitiya in the Gampola area.

The Police stated she was reported missing on Sunday morning and was last seen looking for a bus close to her house while on her way to work.

Investigations have revealed that she was employed at a pharmacy in the Weligalla area.

The Gampola Police has launched a search operation with the assistance of area residents and monitoring CCTV footage obtained from the Elpitiya Mosque.

The Police said that even though CCTV footage shows the girl walking towards Weligalla Town, there are no traces of her thereafter. (NewsWire)

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A 07-year-old child from Gampola has died due to the distribution of the wrong medicine as a result of a lack of a proper prescription system at the Kurunduwatta Divisional Hospital.

According to reports, the female child had fallen ill after which her parents had taken her to the Kurunduwatta Divisional Hospital where she was prescribed medicine on a used printed paper. 

The parents are said to have obtained the medicine from the pharmacy at the hospital and the child had consumed the medicine after returning home, resulting in her having diarrhoea and becoming weak.

As the child had shown other symptoms after visiting the hospital for the second time, the child’s parents had thereafter, taken her to the Gampola Base Hospital where it was found that the child had been prescribed medicines given to elders.

The hospital has found that the Kurunduwatta Divisional Hospital had prescribed medicine on a printed paper on which already medicines had been prescribed for an elderly patient which had been wrongfully given to the child. 

However, the child who was made unconscious and admitted to the ICU of the Gampola Base Hospital is reported to have passed away while receiving treatment. 

Investigations have found that due to a lack of paper, the Kurunduwatta Divisional Hospital has used already used prescription papers, due to which the wrong dose of medicines had been distributed to the child, resulting in her death. (NewsWire)

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Police investigations have revealed that among the seven suspects arrested over the Gampola ATM machine robbery in January, four are from the same family.

Police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa told the media today that two suspects each were arrested from Gampola and Puttalam, and three were arrested from the Galaha area.

He stated that the suspects had stolen the ATM machine from a private bank in Gampola and had taken the Rs. 7.6 million in cash after which they had discarded the ATM machine in a precipice 200 meters from the location.

The Police have found the ATM machine, and they have also recovered over Rs. 1.7 million in cash, a van, a motorcycle, gold chains, a gold ring, two washing machines, three mobile phones, and a gas cooker from the suspects’ possession. 

The Police spokesman said the suspects had purchased several more items and are also reported to have conducted monetary transactions with various people. 

SSP Nihal Thalduwa further stated that a pistol that had been stolen from the residence of MP Ali Sabry Raheem in Puttalam during anti-government protests last year had also been recovered from teh possession of the suspects. 

The Police suspect that the group had used the said firearm to carry out the robbery.

SSP Thalduwa said that investigations have also revealed that the group had been involved in a similar robbery of a state bank in the Gampola area as well as two gold jewellery stores on previous occasions.

He added that the Gampola Police is conducting investigations into all incidents involving the suspects. 

Four masked individuals had stolen the ATM machine with nearly Rs. 8 million in cash from a private bank in Gampola at around 12.40 am on 25th January 2023.

Police investigations had revealed that the group had arrived in a van and had tied up the security officer at the bank after which they had stolen the ATM machine. 

It was later revealed that the van used for the robbery had been found abandoned in Peradeniya along with its driver with his hands tied four hours after the robbery.

Police investigations found that the group had hired the van and had abandoned the driver during which time they had carried out the robbery. Following the robbery, they had picked up the driver and abandoned him along with the vehicle in Peradeniya. 

Police investigations had led to the arrest of 2 suspects after which seven suspects had been arrested yesterday (14). (NewsWire)

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Seven individuals have been arrested for their involvement in the robbery of an ATM machine from a private bank in the Gampola area in January.

The Police stated that the suspects were arrested from the Gampola and Galaha areas yesterday. 

They further stated that a pistol that had been stolen from the residence of MP Ali Sabry Raheem during the public protests last year had been recovered from the possession of the suspects.

Earlier, the Police had arrested two suspects who were involved in the ATM robbery.

Four masked individuals had stolen the ATM machine with nearly Rs. 8 million in cash from a private bank in Gampola at around 12.40 am on 25th January 2023.

Police investigations had revealed that the group had arrived in a van and had tied up the security officer at the bank after which they had stolen the ATM machine. 

It was later revealed that the van used for the robbery had been found abandoned in Peradeniya along with its driver with his hands tied four hours after the robbery.

Police investigations found that the group had hired the van and had abandoned the driver during which time they had carried out the robbery.

Following the robbery, they had picked up the driver and abandoned him along with the vehicle in Peradeniya. 

However, following the initial arrest of two suspects, the Police have arrested seven more suspects said to have been involved in the robbery. (NewsWire)

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