Four suspects who stole a luxury jeep from Baddegama, Galle had abandoned the jeep at the 9.2 km post Veediyagoda on the Southern Expressway (E01) after they were ordered to stop by the police.
Police said that when the jeep was found, the regular registration number had been changed and a sticker was affixed on the front bonnet so that it could not be recognised easily.
According to the police, a person in Baddegama had attempted to sell this luxury jeep. The suspects had visited him as buyers, attacked him, pulled him down from the jeep and then fled away in it.
According to the information received through the police messages regarding the crime, the officers of the Expressway Traffic Police have also been on the lookout.
Two officers, Sergeant 60729 Weeratunga and Constable 3272 Karunaratne, had signaled an amber-colored jeep coming towards Colombo to stop.
A senior police officer said that the suspect had abandoned the jeep in Veediyagoda and fled away when the police officers were chasing them, a senior police officer said.
He said that the suspects are suspected to be members of an organised carjacking gang.
