Police constable arrested over Sapugaskanda narcotic haul

COLOMBO (News1st): A police constable wanted over the recovery of 23 kilograms of heroin in Sapugaskanda has been arrested in India, foreign media reported. Praveen Kumara Bandara, attached to the Colombo Crimes Division, had been arrested by the Tamil Nadu Coast Guard in the South Indian town of Dhanushkodi. The suspect had fled to India by sea from the Pesalai area in Mannar, police said. Police had launched a search for the suspect after his brother had said that the narcotics seized during a raid had been given to him by the constable. The Meegahawatta police had recovered a stash of heroin that had been hidden in a carpentry shed in Sapugaskanda on September 2. Indian security agencies and intelligence units in Tamil Nadu have launched investigations into the relationships the constable had maintained with underworld groups, reports showed. The police constable will be brought back to the country and subjected to quarantine before being placed under police custody.