By Kanchana Kumara   

An individual who pushed his mistress off a moving bus causing her serious injuries was taken into custody by Dambulla police yesterday.  

The suspect is a 24-year-old young man from Sinhapura in  Welkanda a father of two children and his mistress a married woman from Horiwila.  

They had been travelling by Colombo bound bus from Polonnaruwa and had an altercation between them through out the journey.   

When the bus was approaching Dambulla town, two police officers on their way for an inquiry on a motorcycle had first noticed a phone thrown out of the bus, followed by a young woman falling off the bus. They had immediately rushed to the scene.   

While the police officer riding on pillion had dismounted at once to help the young woman, the other had given chase and stopped the bus which had left the scene with the suspect on board.   

Passengers told police that the suspect and the young woman had a lengthy altercation throughout the journey over a photo of another young man found on her phone and that the suspect had thrown the phone out of the bus. They said when the young woman rang the bell and walked to the exit to get down and find her phone the suspect had pushed her out of the moving bus.   

The injured woman was admitted in critical condition to Dambulla base hospital and the young man arrested. Police said the young woman was not in a position to make a statement. The suspect was to be produced before Dambulla magistrate yesterday.   

OIC Crime Investigation Branch CI Saliya Gandarawatta and Nishantha Herath are conducting further investigations on the instructions of HQI Dambulla police Wasantha Kumara.