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Laggala police arms robbery that shocked the security chiefs ! A dissection following the arms seizure..

-A Defence Analysis

(Lanka-e-News- 18.April.2016, 11.20PM) While the people were enjoying the New Year , a cache of robbed arms from  the main armory of Laggala police was seized at the right  time following the robbery. This incident had sent a wave of most rude shock among the security chiefs of the country.

On the 13 th New year night ,  a T56 weapon and five pistols were robbed after opening the chest of weapons but  leaving   back the chest ,of the Laggala police .However   the bullets which match the weapons had  not been  robbed. 

The  robbery had come  to light in the following morning. When the robbery took place , the night duty officer in charge , the officer in charge of the telephone system and  two officers assisting in the station’s  security had been at the police station. The chest  containing weapons had been opened using  the bunch of keys of the police , it was revealed.

The bunch of keys had been at a place most visible to the officer in charge of the telephone system. In that bunch of keys there were 17  keys in addition to that of  the chest  of weapons.

The officer in charge of the phones had seen an individual wearing a sarong along with a weapon going in the direction of the officer providing security at the front. 

Following the incident , the acting IGP entrusted the investigation to the CID. Based on what came to light , two security officers providing security to the  officer in charge during the night were interdicted.
 
What caught the attention most during investigations ……

Selecting the new year day for this robbery is most noteworthy. On that day the focus is on other activities and the police stations too are with minimum staff.  Besides this Laggala police station was inaugurated recently after refurbishment , and it is in a desolate place with no houses in the  vicinity .
  
That is perhaps why this station was chosen for the theft. Though the Laggala police station is housed in a huge building , in the night there had been only four police officers on duty .Except one officer who was awake the other three officers were drunk and had been sleeping. The thief had perhaps taken these  into consideration . However , since the investigators arrived the following day , the inebriated condition of the officers could not be subjected to a medical examination. 
  
The fact that the thief had selected the correct key of the bunch of 17 keys to open the chest of weapons suggests that the rogue is from within the police. On the other hand if the key used was one made identical with the police key , then again that could be done only by somebody with the collusion  of an officer within the police station. 

The OIC of Laggala police station O.N.J.W. K. Amarasinghe CI had some time ago reported to the higher ups that since there are a number of officers in the Laggala police station who are long standing ancestral residents of Laggala , and owing to this difficulties are experienced when enforcing the law. He had therefore wanted them transferred out .

The OIC had made this complaint  because when issues crop up in the areas where  those officers are from , the latter had made it a habit owing to their close friendship with the accused to ‘shape up’ the crime without duly enforcing the law.  The same is true  when poachers and others  who destroy  the forests are caught .On the day of this incident too , such an officer of the village has been on duty .Among the three officers interdicted is this   officer.

The attention was also specially  focused on the robbery of the firearms only ,without laying hands on the bullets .To every bullet that is with the security division , there is a number. Hence , if any incident had occurred owing to the bullets , via that number it can be trapped.  This means that the robbers are aware of this fact , and did not therefore rob them , or the robbers have the bullets already with them or they know some other  method by which they can get them .

The weapons were detected 16th morning …….

In the morning , when the chief incumbent of the Sandagala temple,Wellegama, Pallegama which is situated about 12 kilometers away from the Laggala police station, went near the well to do his morning face wash, he had seen a bag close to  the water tank some distance away from the bucket . The Ven .Thera who saw a T 56 rifle and five pistols in the bag had summoned the villagers , and informed the Laggala police via  emergency phone No. 119.  The police who arrived had identified the arms as belonging to the Laggala police which were robbed.
 
The CID had by now handed over  the arms to the government analyst and the Finger prints registrar to check whether those weapons had been used for any firing, and to identify finger prints. 

After  the discovery of the weapons , the attention of the investigators had been drawn to the following …

It is clear the police are involved. Investigations are under way to determine whether these are officers now working  in the Laggala police or those who were there and  now transferred  out.

It is suspected that the rogues after realizing they cannot  proceed with the robbery or that is not necessary , had left the weapons within eyeshot distance of the temple prelate for him to see.  This is a reasonable inference  because the bag was  clearly visible  to the prelate who went to the well for washing. 

If the  aim was not to rob the weapons or to use them , it should be to  disgrace the police . 

Investigations have also turned in the direction to ascertain whether any rival of the acting IGP who is also vying for the post of the IGP after the former IGP’s retirement, conspired to  orchestrate this in order to portray that the acting IGP is incompetent for the IGP position. One of those vying for the IGP post now was a DIG in charge of this area earlier on. 

The investigators are also probing ,when the robbery was initiated  ,whether  any political group was through this  seeking to  collect arms with a view to destroying  the weapon power since , each time insurgency in the country erupted in the South , arms gathering was carried our prior, based on reports .But with the detection of these robbed arms , this line of investigation  can go no further.Besides , if there is such a political group  robbing arms , surely they will not abandon the arms. Even an underworld gang that robs arms will not surrender them .

In the circumstances , when the aforementioned possibilities are ruled out , it has become increasingly clear the robbery of arms at the Laggala police station is a result of a conspiracy from within the police itself. 

No matter what , there is a most important and indispensable lesson the Sri Lanka police have to learn following this robbery . 

Currently , even in a Kotthu roti kiosk , there is a CCTV  camera system , then why not in a police station ?  CCTV cameras are available at prices even lesser than Rs. 50,000.00 in Sri Lanka . Therefore this is a clear index more than the financial aspect it is  simply  the gross indifference to priorities and utter unconcern for matters of national importance that have paved the way for  this robbery .

By Lanka e news defense reporter 
Translated by Jeff

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by     (2016-04-19 15:46:43)

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