Three persons including a school boy were arrested for robbing a large number of steel brought to build a bridge in the Nalawana area on the Southern Expressway which is presently being extended to Godagama from Pinnaduwa.

They were taken into custody following a tip-off received from the area. At the time of the arrest iron bars 12 feet in length, were being transported in a tractor.

The suspects are residents of Pinnaduwa and Kananke, Matara. The steel is believed to be worth around Rs.1 million.

Police said that similar robberies were reported in the recent past but no suspects were arrested in connection with the robberies.

During investigations it had been revealed that the three men were connected to the previous robberies as well.

The Southern Expressway from Kottawa to Pinnaduwa is patrolled by the Southern Expressway Traffic Division. However the area from Pinnaduwa to Matara, is presently being constructed and therefore lacks the required security, this, according to residents of leads to such robberies. (Supun Dias and Sunil De Silva)