The CTB bus hijacked from Bastian Mawatha was found in Peliyagoda without fuel.

A unique theft was reported today (11), bypassing the security and attention at the Colombo Bastian Mawatha bus stop. This involved a bus belonging to the Sri Lanka Transport Board, which was parked in the yard of the Colombo Central Bus Stand, being abducted by an unknown group.

However, the end of this bus robbery was marked by the discovery of the missing bus abandoned in the Peliyagoda area.

This SLTB bus, which operates from Vavuniya to Nochchiyagama, was brought and parked at the Colombo Bastian Mawatha bus stand yard this morning. This was with the intention of departing for Vavuniya again at 11:45 AM today. The police state that the driver who parked the bus in the yard had hidden its key in a secret location and left the bus around 4:30 AM.

When the other driver, scheduled for the afternoon trip, arrived at the bus at the appointed time, it was not in the yard. He immediately took steps to inform the authorities at the Colombo Central Bus Stand about this. Subsequently, despite thoroughly checking every road in the Pettah area, a special investigation was launched due to the inability to locate the massive SLTB bus.

Against this backdrop, another bus driver informed the authorities that the missing SLTB bus was parked on a road in the Peliyagoda area. Accordingly, officials who acted on this information were able to locate the bus in Peliyagoda during a search. The most significant observation made there was that the fuel from the bus had been siphoned off.

A comprehensive investigation into the incident is currently underway. The Pettah Police and a team of investigative officers from the Colombo Central Bus Stand are jointly conducting these investigations. Furthermore, police added that officials from the Colombo Fingerprint Office also visited the site and collected fingerprints from the bus.