More details emerge in Horana bank gold heist

Gold worth millions of rupees was stolen from the Cooperative Rural Bank located at Koraleima Junction on the Horana - Colombo Main Road after thieves plundered it early today (23), Moragahahena Police state.

The thieves tied up the security officer of the bank, broke into the bank, and stole gold goods and property worth millions that were inside.

Investigation officers suspect that the robbers took a portion of the gold goods worth over Rs. 80 million that were in the bank.

According to police investigations, a group consisting of four individuals carried out this robbery today (23) between 1:00 am and 5:00 am.

The thieves tied the hands, feet, and mouth of the security officer who was in the guardroom behind the bank using cloth strips, confined him in a bathroom, and subsequently entered the bank by breaking the ventilation window of the bathroom.

About 2 safes and 20 drawers were inside this bank, and police state that it is revealed that the gold goods inside one of those drawers were completely taken away by the thieves.

Police also note that the exact quantity of missing gold goods and the value of property out of the total stock of gold goods worth about Rs. 80 million owned by the bank are not officially calculated yet.

The robbers also dismantled and took away the DVD machines of the bank's security CCTV camera system, and it is revealed that an iron-cutting grinder was used to break the safes.

Police state that this robbery was first revealed when an individual from a shop located on the opposite side of the road arrived and searched upon hearing the screams of the security officer who was confined after the incident.

Moragahahena Police conduct further investigations regarding the incident, and scientific investigations are scheduled to be performed at the relevant location after summoning Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) and fingerprint experts.