A man who got into buses with wife and three children and then stole mobile phones and wallets of passengers was arrested along with 5,200 milligrams of heroin, the Piliyandala Police said.
During the interrogation of the suspect, police found nearly 20 stolen mobile phones worth over Rs.1 million.
Piliyandala Crimes OIC IP Dinesh Hettiarachchi, who has been paying attention to several complaints received from youths and school children regarding the loss of mobile phones in buses, has arrested the suspect in Miriswatta based on CCTV footage.
A police officer said that the wife and three children were with the suspect at the time of his arrest, and the three children had started crying requesting not to take their father away.
The 33-year-old suspect, a resident of Pothupitiya in Wadduwa, failed to give a valid reason as to why he was in Piliyandala with his wife and children.
Investigations revealed that the mobile phones of school children and women in buses were stolen meticulously by the suspect along Route No. 138 Homagama-Pettah and Route No. 296 Piliyandala-Maharagama.
Police said that they were able to find the stolen mobile phones which had been sold at a very low price in Badowita, Mt.Lavinia and Pettah.
The suspect will be produced in the Kesbewa Magistrate’s Court.
