The Mount Lavinia CID today arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of an assistant manager of a supermarket in Moratuwa and the robbery of the three-wheeler he was driving.
It has been revealed that he is a registered criminal (IRC) in the island who is addicted to drugs.
Investigations have revealed that the suspect was killed with the help of a fugitive from the Army who was also using drugs. He has now fled the area and is in hiding.
Assistant Manager is a resident of Matara. Police say that he is staying at a boarding house in Moratuwa and working. He drives a three-wheeler to earn extra income after finishing his service at the supermarket.
On the evening of the 19th, while he was riding in his three-wheeler after work, two persons who had boarded the three-wheeler in Moratuwa had gone to Moratumulla. Police say that they had grabbed the three-wheeler driver by the neck and demanded money from him in a deserted place in the Molape area. According to the police, the victim had fought with them at that time and the suspect who had fled from the army had stabbed the him.
According to the police, the two had fled the scene after covering the mouth of the victim, tied his hands when he was struggling and taken his wallet. The assistant manager had died due to excessive bleeding from the stab wound and only Rs. 300 was in his wallet, police said.
The two robbers then took the three-wheeler to Kadirana, removed the cassette recorder, speakers and battery attached to the three-wheeler near the Kadirana bridge, washed the three-wheeler to remove fingerprints and left the scene.
Police stated that the three-wheeler was found on the 20th based on information provided by the public.
The robbers had also broken into a house in Moratumulla on the morning of the 20th and robbed a mother and daughter stealing Rs. 40,000 amount of money and jewelery worth Rs. 1 million by plastering their hands and mouth.
One of the suspects had then attempted to sell the battery of the three-wheeler and was arrested following a tip-off received by the police.
During interrogation, the suspect was found with the equipment that had been stolen from the three-wheeler after killing the assistant manager of the supermarket, as well as some of the jewelery that had been looted from the Moratumulla house.
