Claiming 'I am a good friend of your father,' someone tried to take a 17-year-old student on a bike.

A 17-year-old schoolgirl, who was returning home after attending a private tuition class, was allegedly lured and abducted on a motorcycle by a former army soldier. The Deniyaya Police arrested the suspect on the 14th of last month. Police interrogations revealed that the suspect abducted the young woman with the intention of robbing the gold chain she was wearing around her neck.

While the student was walking on the road after her classes, this person approached her on a motorcycle and stopped beside her. He claimed to be a close friend of her father and offered to drop her near her house, subsequently getting her onto the motorcycle. Believing his statement to be true, the student got onto the back seat of the motorcycle without any suspicion.

However, two police officers on duty on the road, who saw a young woman riding a motorcycle without a helmet, stopped and inspected the motorcycle. Due to the contradictory statements made by the motorcyclist, the police officers became suspicious and questioned the student as well. Subsequent lengthy investigations revealed that this person was not known to the student's father at all.

The suspect, a resident of Kuruwita, admitted that he committed this crime with the intention of snatching the gold chain. Police investigations further revealed that he had recently abducted a girl in the Monaragala area in a similar manner and robbed her gold jewelry, and the police have launched a special investigation into that incident as well.

Under the direct supervision of Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Wasantha Kithsiri Jayalath, in charge of the Southern Province, and on the instructions of Senior Superintendent of Police Wasantha Kumara, in charge of the Matara Division, a team of officers including Deniyaya Police Station OIC Chief Inspector Chandana Amararathna, is conducting further investigations into this matter.