Five arrested for breaking into Indian visa application centre

• The police recovered a laptop, a DVR, a camera and an iPod worth Rs.300,000 from the suspects’ possession

By Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya

Five suspects including a female sanitary worker of the Indian visa application centre at the Philip Gunawardena Mawatha in Colombo have been arrested over the theft at the visa centre recently.

The Indian High Commission in Colombo was closed on February 15 for a few days last week citing security reasons and reopened on Monday.

Police Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that a group of robbers who entered the visa centre on February 14 had stolen several equipment.

The police recovered a laptop, a DVR, a camera and an iPod worth Rs.300,000 from the suspects’ possession. It was reported that the robbers had broken into the country manager’s office at the Indian visa application centre.

The spokesman said however investigations are continuing to determine whether the suspects had broken in to steal equipment or for any other purpose. Two suspects aged 53 years were arrested in Wellawatta while two others aged 49 and 54 were arrested from the Kirulapona and Thimbirigasyaya areas. He said the 63-year-old female sanitary worker from Grandpass area may have given the information to the suspects to break into the centre, as there was a safe inside the visa centre. The spokesman said the suspects will be produced in court after the investigations are complete.