Three men who planned to murder prison officer remanded

Three suspects involved in the failed attempt to murder a prison official inside a bus in the southern province have been arrested by the Police.

The three men had reportedly told the police that though the plan was to kill the officer, their attempt failed as there were too many passengers on the bus.

They badly assaulted the officer with clubs and caused injuries to him inside the bus in Galle. The officer is receiving treatment at the Karapitiya Hospital.

Police said that they had claimed that they were contracted to carry out the murder by a person who is living overseas.

The officer was earlier attached to the Matara hospital where he had detected several mobile phones among the prisoners.

The person living overseas believed that the officer was a hindrance to the activities of his associates at the prisons and wanted to murder the officer, according to initial investigations by the Police.

The three suspects have been remanded until August 24.