Nawalapitiya Police arrested two suspects yesterday afternoon (06) on suspicion of attempting to rob the phone of a Chinese woman who was traveling on the Udara Menike train running from Colombo Fort to Badulla. (Sri Lanka Latest News)
Liu Kuin, a Chinese woman, came for a visit to Sri Lanka with her husband and daughter, while traveling to Ella railway station with a road consultant, taking videos of beautiful places with her mobile phone outside the train window, nearing Nawalapitiya Iguruoya railway station. One of the three youths who were present attacked the woman who was filming the video with a long stick.
The footage of the youths assaulting her was recorded on her phone and her hand was injured due to the assault.
Later, after she informed the tour advisor about the incident, she recorded her complaint in Chinese, translated it into Sinhala and forwarded the complaint and the footage recorded on the mobile phone to the Nawalapitiya Police via WhatsApp, who immediately acted as Chief Inspector of Police Harendra Kalugampitiya, Station OIC of the Nawalapitiya Police. Police officers went to Nawalapitiya Iguru Oya railway station and was able to arrest two suspects.
The OIC of Nawalapitiya Police said that the police have launched an operation to arrest another suspect.
The police OIC further said that the arrested suspects are residents of Nawalapitiya Iguruoya area, they are in the age group of 22-24 years, the suspects are addicted to drugs, and they are released on bail in the Nawalapitiya Magistrate’s Court in connection with a drug charge.
After the arrest of the suspects, the Chinese woman sent a message to the police regarding the arrest of the suspects through WhatsApp technology, and the message appears below.
My name is Liu Qin. My husband, daughter and I came to Sri Lanka this time for the trip. As we took the train to the mountains, I was taking photos of the wonderful scenery and friendly people out the window. One of the three men outside the train tried to grab my phone and hit me hard on my elbow with a long wooden stick, but they failed and their pictures were recorded on my phone. Now my arm is bruised and blue.
After the incident Vinoo, the Sri Lankan tour guide, took special care of my injuries, comforted my family and my feelings, and handled the situation positively. He repeatedly helped me to call the manager and the police on duty of the combined train to arrest the three men. Many thanks! Vinoo, the tour guide in particular, was very determined to resolve the issue and handled the entire process proactively and efficiently. By the evening of the same day, I heard that the police had arrested a person and that the police were very efficient. Thank you very much!
My family and I love Sri Lanka very much, this country and people, every smiling face, every wind touches us. I will not allow the occasional bad incident like this to affect my good feelings about Sri Lanka. I hope this incident is resolved and Sri Lanka can move forward and develop better!
Friendship between China and Sri Lanka will last forever!
