Kataragama-based Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment (SLSR) troops after a chase behind a suspicious speeding truck during small hours on Wednesday (26) along Kataragama-Buttala road, arrested two men, carrying carcasses of a big sambur and three full-grown deer, believed to have been shot and killed by the suspects.
The detection was made when Lieutenant Colonel M.A Lakshman of the SLSR camp at Kataragama was returning from Buttala during early hours on Wednesday (26) and spotted a suspicious truck, speeding ahead of his vehicle in an unusual manner at that hour of the night. Despite signals splashed by the pursuing Army vehicle, the truck continued its run unheeded, and suddenly took an unexpected U turn in the middle of the road. It started its journey again in the opposite direction and the Army vehicle, too did the same and continued its chase behind the suspicious truck.
However, the preceding truck suddenly hurried into the wayside Yala national park jungles, on both sides of the road, and tried it hard to disappear into dense jungles, but the pursuing Army vehicle followed the movement closely to find that occupants inside the truck managed to flee after abandoning the truck with dead animals.
The Army officer with his soldiers overpowered those suspects with maximum strength, and took two of them into custody together with dead animals-laden truck. Kataragama Police and Wildlife Department officials showed up at the scene later and took away both suspects and the truck with carcasses.
These poachers admitted to the Police that they have been supported by several others for hunting at that hour of the night. They were to be produced before Tissamaharama Court on Thursday (27).
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