A person attempted to snatch soldier's firearm shot dead
June 22, 2020A person, who snatched the firearm of a soldier on duty in Kilali, Jaffna, was killed when he attempted to flee with the weapon on Sunday (June 21) afternoon around 1.30.
Soldiers on duty in Kilali, having observed a group of civilians engaged in illegal sand mining within the demining site, out of bound for civilians due to landmines, had conducted a search on a person at the location. During the search, the said civilian had assaulted one soldier and snatched his weapon and made an abortive attempt to flee the scene pointing the snatched weapon at the soldiers, who were compelled to open fire at the suspect in self-defence.
The suspect later succumbed to gunshot injuries.
During subsequent search conducted in the illegal sand mining site, four other suspects with a tractor used for sand transportation and one motorbike were taken into custody.
Arrested suspects and vehicles were handed over to the Pallai police for further investigation.