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Ex-Sgt Major, wife arrested; 47,000 UPFA posters in car with false number plates
View(s):A former sergeant major of the Military Police and his wife were questioned on Friday after a vehicle belonging to them was seized by police, with a load of election-propaganda material and bearing a bogus military registration number, police said yesterday.
The suspect vehicle and the posters that were found in it (below). Pic by Athula Bandara
They said the vehicle was taken into custody during the early hours of Friday at a location in Kebitigollewa, along with 47,000 colour posters bearing the picture and message of a United People’s Front Alliance (UPFA) candidate.
Initial investigations revealed that the vehicle was registered under the wife’s name. The wife is a teacher in a leading school in the area, according to police.
Investigations have revealed that the vehicle had been hired out to the Giritale Army Camp since May this year and returned to the owner last month.At the time of the detection the vehicle had been hired out to the UPFA candidate for election related work, police said.
The two suspects were later produced before the Kebitigollewa Court and released on cash bail of Rs. 10,000 each and a personal bail of Rs 100,000. The vehicle has been detained pending investigations. The detection was made by a team headed by Chief Inspector Ranjith Ratnayake, Officer-in-Charge of the Kebitigollewa Police Station.
Army Headquarters, meanwhile, denied the vehicle belonged to the Army. It said the occupants were not soldiers or employed by the Military in any category.