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Extortion via ‘fake accidents’ taking place in Colombo

11 Aug 2022

BY Dinitha Rathnayake  The incidence of a racket involving persons travelling on three-wheelers and falsely claiming to have suffered accidents and injuries, using such to extort money from innocent drivers by creating a commotion and furore in public places, has been reported from various parts of the Colombo District. According to an investigation by The Morning, it was revealed that several persons who had been travelling in three-wheelers in the Pannipitiya, Maharagama, and Bambalapitiya areas, have demanded cash from vehicle drivers, claiming that the vehicles had hit them when they were getting into said three-wheelers. “I was in Pannipitiya and turned my vehicle into the Moraketiya Junction when suddenly I heard a noise. When I stopped my vehicle, I saw a person who was wounded, and who was shouting at me, ‘Can't you see I was crossing the road? Look at what you have done! You better pay me or I will go to the Police’. I said, ‘Come, I will take you to the hospital and pay for your medicine’. But he was not willing to take up my offer. I then realised that this was some sort of a scam. Many have experienced this in different ways,“ said one victim who narrated his experience to The Morning. Another victim who shared his experience with The Morning explained: “This incident happened to me on Galle Road in Colombo 4. I was driving at a maximum speed of around 30 km per hour when I felt as if someone had slapped the boot of my car. It was around 10:15 p.m. I saw from my side mirror that it was a three-wheeler, so my first thought was that maybe it was the Police and that maybe they wanted to check the vehicle, since these days the Police are seen travelling in blue coloured three-wheelers around Bambalapitiya.  “But then, on second thought, I wondered why the Police would knock on a moving vehicle, rather than passing it and asking to pull onto the side. Therefore, I kept driving forward slowly. That is when a three-wheeler came from behind, right up to my driver’s side window, and started yelling in Sinhala, probably swearing. His windshield was smashed, which is the least possible scenario from a tap from a car, and that too from a car that was travelling in front of him. “So I confronted him, asking what happened. But I can't speak Sinhala, so he became more agitated and kept yelling that ‘I had hit him and caused damage’ and also ‘you foreigner, where are you from’. Then he showed me his hand, which was bleeding, and kept yelling about what I had allegedly done to his three-wheeler, as his window had got smashed as a result, and had injured him. “I kept saying that I haven't done anything as I have been driving straight. Then he began slowly moving forward, arguing, and that's when I noticed a screwdriver-type long pointed tool in his hand, and him charging towards me. I quickly stepped on the gas and drove off towards Marine Drive. He kept following me, but after I got onto Marine Drive, he couldn’t chase me.” Yet another victim told The Morning of another such nighttime ordeal down Elibank Road.  “When I was driving back home at around 8 p.m. down Elibank Road, I got mugged by a three-wheeler driver just a few metres away from my apartment. He suddenly appeared from nowhere and forced me to stop the vehicle. Then, he demanded cash from me claiming that my vehicle had hit him when he was getting into his three-wheeler.  “He threatened and forced all the cash out of my wallet and demanded more by asking me to go to an automated teller machine (ATM) to withdraw more cash. I then drove the vehicle to my father-in-law’s place, which is in the same vicinity, pretending to be going to an ATM and he followed me. When I got there, he approached me again and asked what I was trying to do, and quickly fled when he figured out that I was trying to get help.  “We informed the Police, and they warned us to be extra careful and vigilant, as these kinds of rackets and organised criminal activity are taking place a lot around Colombo. We could become easy targets when we are in lonely areas. Now, it will flow to the suburbs too, so be very diligent even during the daytime”. Speaking to The Morning, Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa noted that several similar incidents had been reported earlier regarding people using motorbikes for a similar scam, adding that he would inform the relevant Police stations about these incidents.


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