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Police ask why BMW in canal crash had garage plates
The luxury BMW vehicle’s owner cum driver who was arrested 48 hours after he hit two vehicles and landed in a canal in Thalawathugoda last week is facing four charges including driving with a garage number despite having registered the vehicle.
The luxury BMW vehicle
Businessman Mohamed Hussain, 47, was produced before the Kaduwela Additional Magistrate Prasanna Alwis and remanded until this coming Tuesday as he also faces charges of failure to report an accident to the police, negligent driving and failure to prevent an accident.
As Mr. Hussain had fled the scene of the accident it took police two days to track him down. People whose vehicles were damaged in the accident spent hours at the police station trying to ascertain the car owner’s identity.
Some three hours after the accident a person claiming to be the accountant of the owner’s company made an attempt to take away the vehicle but police ordered that it be removed to the Thalangama police station.
In a statement made following his arrest, Mr. Hussain had told police he had been driving away from a night club in Thalawathugoda around 6am when the accident had occurred and his car had ended up in the canal.
He had claimed to have been “tired” and that when he had started up the car he had “accidentally” pressed the accelerator instead of the brake and hit one vehicle and in trying to avoid it had hit a second vehicle and crashed into the canal. He claimed to have thought he had been injured and had got into a three-wheeler and sought medical treatment from a private hospital that he has not named.
Police said they had searched two of his residences at Sigera Road, Madiwela and Austin Place, Colombo 8 and could not trace him but records at Department of Motor Vehicles showed the vehicle had been registered on March 15 under the number CBB 5005 although it was being driven with a garage number at the time of the accident.
Businessman Mohamed Hussain, 47, was produced before the Kaduwela Additional Magistrate
The police on Monday were forced to dismiss speculative social media reports that the vehicle had a link to President Maithripala Sirisena.
On Sunday, Highways, Higher Education and Investment Promotion Minister Kabir Hashim issued a statement saying although the vehicle had been driven by one of his relatives, the person was not an official at his ministry nor connected with his political activities. Mr Hashim is also General Secretary of the United National Party.
It was 48 hours later that Mr. Hussain had turned up at the Thalangama police with the registered number plates and been placed under arrest.
Officer in Charge (Traffic) SI Kulawardena said that police were investigating why Mr. Hussain had been using the car’s garage number despite having registered the vehicle.
