The Akkaraipattu Police have found that the archives of the Akkaraipattu Magistrate and District Court were burnt as a result of a contract given by a former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniyabharathi.
The three suspects who had set the fire according to a contract Rs.50,000 were also arrested by the officers of the Akkaraipattuwa police on Wednesday (28) night.
A resident of Pulleyar Kovil Road, Colavil 01. R. Vinojan (24) a resident of Dharmaratnam Road, Colavil 02, T.S. Selvam (17), and a resident of Akkaraipattu 07, Samurdhi Road, M. Santhose (20) have been arrested.
It had been revealed during questioning that these three had entered the court premises at dawn on 21 December between 2 and 4 am and set fire to the courts complex after pouring petrol on them.
The archives had been located on the second floor of a two-storeyed building. The suspects had told police during interrogation that they had broken a window on the second floor and
thrown in two polythene bags full of petrol and then set fire to the building.
During investigations it was revealed that the three suspects had arrived on foot to carry out arson and had obtained petrol from a motorcycle.
It was also revealed that the suspects did not have any permanent jobs and were roaming around and that they were associates of Iniyabharathi. Upon further questioning one of the suspects had told the police that Iniyabharathi had sent to their phones through WhatsApp the location of the courts as well as photos of where the archives were and that they had crept into the courts premises and engaged in arson accordingly. The suspects had revealed that it was Iniyabharathi who had given them instructions on torching the place.
Investigations had revealed that the suspects had received the promised sum of Rs.50,000 before they set the fire and that they had divided the money amongst themselves.
Investigations have revealed that Iniyabharathi, had given a contract to burn down the archives of the court because there are many cases pending against him regarding the abduction and killing of youths. The person named Iniyabharathi has not yet been taken into custody. The Akkaraipattuwa police said that he has fled and is in hiding at present. A top police officer said that a special team of police officers has been deployed to arrest him.
On a previous occasion, this person had been arrested when he was caught transporting Kerala Ganja in Puttalam. He had continued driving his jeep in spite of police orders to stop and he had
halted the vehicle only after the police shot at it.
The Akkaraipattuwa police officers conducted their investigations regarding the fire in the court archives from the beginning, suspecting that it was arson. Officials of the Government Analyst’s
Office had also come and carried out an inspection and they too had concluded that the fire did not originate from an electrical leak or due to natural causes.
From the very beginning the Akkaraipattuwa police officers had suspected that the arson had been engaged in an organized manner using some type of fuel.
There is also a police post for the security of the court and it is located near the front gate of the court. The archive that was set on fire is about 120 meters away from this police post. Two
officers are deployed at the police post at night and two night watchmen are also wemployed.
The archive is located on the top floor of a recently constructed two-story building that has not yet been fully completed. A watchman was the first to see the building on fire. After he informed
the police post about it, the fire was extinguished with the help of a police water bowser. But the police said that almost all the case files in the archive had been destroyed in the fire.
Friday, December 30, 2022 – 01:00