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Thummulla fatal accident: Law student granted bail
The law student remanded for Monday’s Thummulla fatal accident in which a police officer was killed was granted bail on Friday and ordered to appear in court on June 29.
Tharinda Ratwatte (24) was released on two surety bails of Rs 500,000 each.
On Thursday, June 11, around 11 pm, he was driving a Defender jeep which collided head on with a motorcycle carrying two police constables attached to the State Intelligence Service (SIS). One of the injured constables, Sithum Dulitha Yohan Alahapperuma (22), died on Sunday at the Colombo National Hospital, days after he made headlines for busting the Rs. 7 million robbery at the National Hospital.
He was posthumously promoted as sergeant. The other officer, Pathrenehelage Akila Madusanka Samarasekara (22), is being treated for serious leg injuries at the National Hospital. On Friday he was transferred to the Police Hospital in Colombo.
The case was heard before Colombo Magistrate H. Prabakaran. The court was told Mr. Ratwatte’s family had agreed to pay Rs. 100,000 to the injured police officer.
The police objected to the bail and urged that the suspect be further remanded. The magistrate ordered the police to submit a detailed report on the investigations at the next hearing. Meanwhile, a National Hospital official said Constable Samarasekara underwent a series of tendon repair operations in addition to surgery to repair the damaged kneecap in one leg.
She expressed hope he could fully recover after six to seven weeks of bed rest.