Three army persons arrested for treasure hunting

Three army persons including an officer and a monk have been arrested for searching for archeological items, the Special Task Force said today (April 1).

The STF officers of the Vavunathivu Camp, acting upon information received had conducted a raid yesterday in the Mavadioda area of Karadiyanaru.

Subsequently they had arrested an army corporal and his accomplices, who included an army lieutenant colonel, an army sergeant and a monk.

They had entered premises of an archeological site illegally and were searching the area for archeological items using high-tech equipment when they had been arrested.

The suspect and the items seized, which are a Deep Seeker type scanner, a Casper type Tab machine and a car belonging to the army (U.H. 50929), were handed over to the Karadiyanaru Police for further investigation.

The raid was conducted by a team of STF officers of the Vavunathivu camp, including the Camp Commander, Inspector of Police M.S. Ibrahim.