Colombo, April 6 – A constable attached to the Cinnamon Gardens police station was arrested Thursday after he snatched a gold chain from a woman at the Vihara Maha Devi park, police headquarters said.
The constable was caught by the victim’s husband and several civil defence force personnel who chased after him and grabbed him near his work place – the Cinnamon Gardens police station – on Wednesday evening, the EconomyNext reported.
The unidentified constable was held at his station and was due to be taken before a magistrate on Friday, police said. The woman’s gold chain was valued at 85,000 rupees.
The Vihara Maha Devi park is popular with young families who spend time till late in the evening. There had been a few muggings at the park prompting calls for greater police protection.
Despite a drive to have compulsory meditation sessions for the 88,000-strong police force, there had been a spike in wrong doing by police personnel.
An inspector committed suicide after meditation while two were filmed beating up a motorcyclist in Kalutara. Several other excesses were also reported in the past two weeks.
