Obtained Rs.500,000 from victim by posing as PIU officer

The Colombo Crime Division (CCD) yesterday arrested three suspects including an inmate of the Negombo Prisons on charges of having cheated a person of Rs.500,000 by posing as officers of the Presidential Investigation Unit.

Police Headquarters said the main suspect was an inmate of the Negombo Prisons and that he had given the victim a telephone call saying the PIU was investigating the wrongful purchase of a block of state land.

The suspect had asked the victim to pay Rs.500,000 if the investigations were to be called off. Police said the victim was a resident of Chilaw and that he had deposited the money to the suspect’s account number but the victim later complained to the CCD when he realized he had been taken for a ride.

During investigations the CCD arrested the inmate’s wife and a resident of Dankotuwa. The suspects were produced before the Marawila Magistrate.