Four arrested with a marble Buddha Statue

Puliyankulam Police said that four individuals who salvaged a treasure including a Buddha Statue were arrested on the 22nd night, in a forest reserve in Marathodi area in Puliyankulam.

On a tip off received by the OIC of Puliyankulam Police, four people who were trying to unearth a treasure using a backhoe machine have been nabbed when they were closing the pit which was excavated to get the treasure in a forest reserve six km away from Marathodi junction.

The Police have found equipment used for excavation of the treasure, a trishaw, a backhoe machine, two parts of a pinnacle, an unidentified ball made of clay, a 19 inch large ancient clay lamp belonging to the Anuradhapura era and a marble Buddha Statue nine inches in height in the possession of the suspects.

In the meantime, Officers of the Puliyankulam Police have commenced an investigation whether a valuable treasure had been hidden in this place.

Police said that there may have been an ancient temple according to ruins and stone pillars found in the vicinity.

Steps have been taken to produce the suspects in the Vavuniya Court and the arrested suspects are residents of Batticaloa, Puliyankulam, Trincomalee and Thalawakele, police said.

Puliyankulam Police OIC IP Supul Vidanage together with Sergeant Ratnayake (36383), PC Jayasuriya (34177) PC Manapriya (38806), PC Kumarasinghe (16308), PC Dissanayake (1937) and PC Suranjith (22352) participated in this raid on the instructions of SDIG Roshan Fernando, DIG Anura Abeywickrama , SP of Vavuniya Division T. M. S. M. Tennakoon.