Soldier, deserter nabbed with T56 rifle, magazine

Weapon stolen from Ambepussa Army Camp last month

A soldier and an Army deserter had been arrested with a T56 assault rifle and a T-56 magazine believed to be stolen from the Ambepussa Army Camp last month.

Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekera said the suspects were arrested following information given by another soldier, who was in remand custody over a murder.

Earlier, Peliyagoda Division Crimes officials arrested two soldiers attached to the Ambepussa Army Camp in connection with an incident where a T56 weapon was stolen after a 21-year-old soldier was stabbed to death at one of the guard posts in the same camp on September 21.

The stolen T-56 rifle and the knife used for the killing were recovered by the police and taken into custody along with the suspects on September 25.

The arrested soldiers were remanded till October 11 after they were produced in the Attanagalle Magistrate’s Court. SP Gunasekera said that investigations had revealed that another T56 rifle and a T-56 magazine had been stolen from the camp by the first suspect on August 2.

He said the stolen rifle and the magazine had been sold to an Army deserter with the help of a soldier of the same camp for a sum of Rs. 200,000. The Spokesman said the deserter, a resident of Hokandara and the soldier, a resident of Katiyawa had been arrested on Monday (8) in the Hokandara and Biyagama areas. They were to be produced in the Attanagalle Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The stolen T-56 rifle and the knife used for the killing were recovered by the police and taken into custody along with the suspects on September 25