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Three-year old rivalry led to acid attack, police probe reveals
View(s):By Skandha Gunasekara
An ayurvedic physician who allegedly gave a contract to a soldier and a fisherman to throw acid on the North Central Province Ayurveda Commissioner Dr. Chandra Kumara Alwis has claimed that a three-year long rivalry between them had prompted him to take this drastic step, a police officer involved in the investigations said.
Dr Alwis was even yesterday at the Colombo Eye Hospital still recovering from the acid attack.
Dr. Alwis recovering at the Colombo Eye Hospital. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Anuradhapura Police Crime Division officers were able to track down the suspects after tracing the telephone calls taken by the physician to the men who undertook the contract for the attack. Three suspects were apprehended on Thursday. Dr. Alwis is an esteemed ayurvedic doctor who was residing in Anuradhapura. The victim’s wife, Champika Alwis who is also an ayurvedic doctor told the Sunday Times that the incident took place in the early hours of Friday (22) morning.
“Around 4.30 a.m. a knock on the door woke us up and my husband went to see who it was. I heard conversation for about 20 minutes when suddenly my husband came in screaming that someone threw acid at him.” Two individuals on the pretext of seeking medical help approached the doctor early morning on Friday.
They claimed that they had travelled from Matara where their ‘father’ was paralyzed and was in need of medical treatment. Consequently, Dr. Alwis had invited them in for refreshments as he assumed they were weary travellers, when one of them threw acid at him.
“We tried to wash it off with water, but it did not do much to stop the toxic chemical that was eating into his skin, ” his wife Champika told the Sunday Times. Dr. Alwis was immediately rushed to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital and then transferred to the Colombo National Hospital where he is being treated for severe injuries to his chest, shoulders, face and eyes.
Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate, Additional District Judge Ruwandika Marapana ordered the police to immediately arrest and produce in court the suspects in connection with the incident. Thereafter, the first suspect, an ayurvedic doctor attached to the Manampitiya Ayurveda Hospital was arrested last Thursday. After interrogation he confessed to his part in the crime identifying two other accomplices; a soldier and a fisherman, both of whom were arrested shortly on the same day.
The doctor was arrested in Minneriya, while the soldier and fisherman were caught in Nittambuwa and Gampaha respectively.After further questioning of the suspects it was revealed that the soldier and the fisherman were given a contract by the main suspect to attack the Ayurveda Commissioner. According to Police Spokesperson G.M. Buddhika Siriwardhana, police were able to track down the suspected ayurvedic doctor with the use of mobile phone tracing technology.
According to the police, the fisherman and soldier were paid a total sum of Rs 75,000 by the ayurveda doctor. Investigations are under way to confirm whether this was an act of revenge by the ayurveda doctor following a dispute. Police were able to confirm that the acid used was bought in Kirillawala. National Eye Hospital Director Dr. Liyanage told the Sunday Times that the acid was either sulphuric acid or acetic acid. Further investigations are being carried out regarding the matter. The suspects were produced in the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court on Friday (1) and remanded till March 15.
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