Man gagged and car stolen

A 75 year old man was murdered after being gagged and his car was stolen in the Kegalle area, Police said today.

Robbers had tied the man up while his wife was also assaulted before they got away with the car from the residence in Hettimulla, Kegalle in the early hours of Monday.

Police identified the victim as Mr Krishantha Pulasthi Marapana, a retired teacher and a former Pradeshiya Sabha member of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna in kegalle.

He was residing a large residence known as the Kempitiya Walawwa. He was living with his wife who was ailing while their son was living in Australia. They had a daughter who passed away earlier.

The car stolen was later recovered in Pindeniya area.

Police said that they have not been able to trace the identity of the robbers so far, but investigations are proceeding.

Police said the robbers appeared to searched the house for valuables for a long time.

Police said a caretaker of the house had left to Polonnaruwa to purchase seed paddy required to cultivate the paddy lands and the incident had occured while he was away.