Coconut tree climber turns thief

A coconut tree climber who had broken into 13 houses in the Anguruwatota, Millaniya and Horana areas was arrested by the Horana Police.

The suspect had broken into houses during the daytime and stolen property including cash and jewellery, police said.

According to the police, there have been 11 robberies in the Horana Police Division and one each in the Anguruwatota and Millaniya areas. The suspect was arrested on a tip-off received by Horana Police Crime OIC SI Hemal Weerasinghe. The suspect (43) is a resident of the Weliketella area and was addicted to drugs, police said. The police have recovered two 32-inch LED TVs, a laptop, a DVD home theatre, two JBLs, a headset, a tablet, a women’s wristwatch, four gold necklaces weighing six pounds, three gold pendants, two gold rings and about 1.5 pounds of molten gold.

All of these stolen goods were worth more than Rs. 1.3 million, police said.