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Robbery of WI cricketers’ belongings: suspect identified
By Dhanuusha Pathirana
The key suspect in the robbery at the NCC grounds of belongings of the West Indies ‘A’ team players, has been identified, the Cinnamon Gardens Police said yesterday.OIC Dinesh Antharagama told the Sunday Times the suspect has planned the robbery throughout the day and got away with three cellular phones worth Rs.180,000, foreign currency equivalent to Rs. 25,000 and other belongings of the cricketers when the team manager left the place at the tea interval. He said the place was not suitable for the players to stay as there was no protection for their possessions and the stolen items were in a transparent air baggage carrier with its contents visible to the suspect even before he opened it.

He said there was little security in the area allocated for the cricketers with any outsider being allowed to enter the players’ quarters. Although it was a members’ only area, on that particular day the area was open to anyone.
The OIC said that though Ministerial Security Division (MSD) officers were deployed when the robbery occurred the MSD was not taking the responsibility for the incident given that the players were not seated at the secured dressing cubicles. He said although the MSD refused to take the responsibility for the incident it was their duty to ensure security in the place.

The West Indies team manager Anthony Howard had complained to the Cinnamon Gardens Police stating that five players of the West Indies “A” Team - Jeremy Lawson, David Moore, Imran Kahn, Runako Morton and Desmond Butler - had lost their belongings at the NCC Grounds during the two day encounter with the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team.

Mr. Howard had told the police that the players left their belongings with him in the dressing room and when he left the quarters at 3. 10 p.m. during the tea break the belongings had been stolen.

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