Policeman injured in violence following fatal accident

A traffic policeman who tried to prevent a group of persons setting fire to a vehicle involved in a fatal accident, suffered serious injuries after being attacked with a manna knife in Dambulla last night (23). 

A motorcyclist was killed after his motorbike collided head-on with a luxury motor car at Pelvehera along the Dambulla-Habarana Main Road at about 8.30pm last night. The victim has been identified as a 38-year-old area resident and a father of two. 

The car had been traveling from Dambulla towards Sigiriya while the motorcyclist, who had ben traveling in the opposite direction, had tried to turn towards his house when the accident occurred. 

Police said the driver of the car was traveling at high speed while the motorcyclist had also turned his bike without first checking both sides of the main road. Therefore, the negligence of both drivers contributed to the tragedy, police said. 

However, after the incident, area residents who gathered at the location had behaved in an unruly manner, and the driver, with the aid of another group of persons, had managed to leave and hand himself over to police. He has been arrested in connection with the accident.  

Thereafter a group of area residents had tried to set fire to the car. A traffic policeman attached to the Dambulla Police had attempted to prevent this, whereupon he was attacked by an individual wielding a manna knife. He was admitted to the Dambulla Base Hospital with severe cut injuries to his arm. 

Police said the individual responsible for attacking the police officer has been identified, though he has fled the area. Dambulla Police have launched investigations to arrest him. 

Text and Pix by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa in Dambulla 

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