Chef Nabbed with 15 Pigeons Stolen from Zoo

 A 24-year-old man has been arrested by the Mount Lavinia Divisional Criminal Investigation Bureau in connection with the theft of thirty-two foreign pigeons, which were being held for safekeeping under court order at the Dehiwala National Zoological Gardens, after their cages were broken into. The arrest, made on the 6th of last month, revealed that the suspect, a resident of Nadimala, Dehiwala, works as a chef.

It is reported that these pigeons were a group of animals that had been seized by customs officers and the police at the airport when an attempt was made to illegally import them into the country by air from a foreign land. After being presented to the court, they were handed over to the Zoological Gardens for temporary custody until the conclusion of the relevant legal proceedings. On the night of October 5th, a group of individuals cunningly broke the locks of the cages where these birds were kept and stole all 32 pigeons. The Zoological Gardens administration had filed a complaint with the police regarding this incident.

Meanwhile, this raid was launched based on confidential information received by Senior Superintendent of Police A.J. Gunasekara, who is in charge of the Mount Lavinia Police Division, from a private informant. Following an extensive investigation conducted by a team of officers including Sub-Inspector Kumarasiri, under the direct supervision of Chief Police Inspector Gamage Nilatha, the OIC of the Divisional Criminal Investigation Bureau, the suspect was arrested in the Nadimala area. The police successfully recovered fifteen of the stolen pigeons unharmed from the suspect's possession.