| Last week, two men – one in a Police officer’s uniform and the other in civvies, turned up at the residence of a government servant in the Kalalgoda area in the outskirts of Colombo. They told the lady of the house of a complaint that drugs were hidden in the house and wanted to carry out a search.
The woman, whose husband was at work and her children in school, strongly denied the allegation, but they insisted on searching the house. The woman backed down and allowed them to search the house.
The uniformed man, in the company of the woman, carried out the search, while the other man in civvies remained in the hall area.
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| Some of the recovered stolen jewellery and motorcycles (below). Pix by Mangala Weerasekera |
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Halfway through the search, the uniformed man apprised the woman of the necessity of a statement, which he insisted that she give the other ‘officer’ in civvies, while he continued with the search.
Accordingly, the other man extensively questioned the woman and laboriously recorded her statement.
After about 20 minutes, the uniformed man turned up conceding that nothing suspicious was found and that, it may have been a false complaint.
However, before leaving, they apologised for the inconvenience caused and warned her to be vigilant as drug addicts were loitering in the area. It may have been a complaint by a neighbour who may have noticed a suspicious character in the woman’s garden.
Soon afterwards, the woman, on checking out her valuables, found Rs 25,000 cash and gold jewellery missing, and realised she had been robbed by the two bogus policemen. She promptly alerted her husband, and a complaint was lodged with the Thalangama police.
A neighbour of the robbery victim, unknown to the two bogus policemen, had observed the two men park their motorcycle, one not usually used by the police, about 100 metres away, before entering that particular house. He had noted the number of the motorcycle.
When the Thalangama police turned up at the house, the neighbour informed them of his observations.
On further investigation it was found that the number of the motorcycle was false as it actually belonged to a moped. Shortly after the robbery, police at a checkpoint who had been alerted of this particular motorcycle number, apprehended the two suspects on a motorcycle bearing this number. They were later identified by the lady of the house in Kalalgoda.
Using this modus operandi of searching houses where only the lady of the house or a domestic was present, on allegations of complaints made, these two bogus policemen had carried out over 20 such robberies during the past year, in addition to robbing at least 10 motorcycles. They have stolen more than three and half kilograms of gold and more than Rs 1.5 million in cash
In one of the robberies they had entered the house of a retired police sergeant from Maharagama, when the inmates had gone on a family trip and only the domestic aide was present. The maidservant had told the men to call over later, but they had insisted on searching the house and got away with Rs. 350,000 worth of gold jewellery and Rs 800,000 cash.
They were also involved in similar robberies in Maharagama, Ingiriya, Kahathuduwa, Kottawa and Homagama areas.
Thalangama Police Officer-in-Charge Chief Inspector Upul Perera conducted investigations.
DOs and DON’Ts
Officer-in-Charge- Thalangama Police, Chief Inspector Upul Perera warns the public of persons calling over claiming they are from the Police. Ask for their identity card and check out details such as which police station, which unit they are from etc. If suspicious, to check with the area police. If they have come in a vehicle or a motorcycle, note down its number.
Do not allow them to carry out the check on their own, be present when the house is being searched. |
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