Sri Lanka Police arrested Excise undercover team for firing at car in Bambalapitiya

Four personnel attached to the Excise Department were arrested by Sri Lanka Police over the shooting that took place near a filling station on Marine Drive, Bambalapitiya on Monday (August 07) at around 04:30 PM.

According to Police, four Excise officials including an Excise Inspector in plain clothing were arrested while fleeing in a van after opening fire at a vehicle driven by two drug dealers.

Sri Lanka Police also seized the pistol assigned to the Excise Inspector that was used in the shooting.

CCTV footage in the area showed a speeding van turning onto Marine Drive, and four men getting out of the vehicle and reaching another vehicle, then the other vehicle was reversing at high speed.

The four men are seen running after the vehicle, and one person opens fire at the vehicle.

According to Police, the vehicle was damaged in the shooting, however, the driver was unharmed, later found the abandoned Honda Vezel vehicle in Wellawatta, two kilometers away from the shooting scene.

Finally it was revealed, this was an undercover drug busting operation launched by the Excise Narcotic Control Unit officials to arrest two drug dealers.

According to Excise Spokesman Commissioner Kapila Kumarasinghe, a team of eight Excise officials in two vehicles each carrying four officials had gone for the raid and they had used a decoy to purchase drugs from the dealers in their own vehicle.

The Excise decoy in civvies had managed to purchase about 150 grams of Heroin from one of the two suspects in the car and when they were about to seize him the second suspect in the car had sped away.

The Excise officer had then opened fire at the wheels of the fleeing car in a bid to stop it but failed.