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Gold chain yanked off body
18/01/2005 22:13 - (SA)
Colombo - Police have arrested two men accused of snatching a gold chain off the body of a woman washed ashore after last month's tsunami, police said on Tuesday.
"They are in custody and were being questioned," said DW Prathapasinghe, police chief of the southern Galle district where the arrests took place on Monday.
Over the weekend, the Daily Mirror splashed photographs of two men carrying the lifeless body of a woman after the first wave struck the port city of Galle, one of the hardest hit by the tsunami.
The series showed the men yanking the gold chain from her neck and then fighting each other for the jewelry. They fled before the second wave struck.
Prathapasinghe said the photos helped track down the suspects, who were residents of Galle.
"We also found in their possession gemstones, gold bangles, chains and an iron safe," he said.
Investigations were under way to determine if there was a wider organised crime ring plundering tsunami victims, Prathapasinghe said.
Since the December 26 disaster police have arrested dozens of people looting damaged areas, some making off in trucks carrying refrigerators, washing machines and furniture from coastal homes and hotels hit by the tsunami.
Nearly 31 000 people were killed in Sri Lanka, while more than 6 000 others still remain missing.
- AP
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