Security officer apprehends snatch thief

Text and Pic Beverly Jansz

It was yet another working day for S.K.T. Sisirakumara, a security officer employed by MIS Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. Sisirakumara was posted for duty as the officer-in-charge of security at the Kohuwala Branch of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC.

Little did Sisirakumara realize that before the morning was over, he would be called upon to display courage, alertness, and presence of mind, worthy of a soldier in the battlefields of the Vanni.

He observed a middle-aged man entering the bank, presenting a cheque to encash a large sum of money and preparing to depart, clutching the bag containing Rs. 700,000 to his bosom.

He had also noticed that an unsavoury character had come into the bank, and Sisirakumara kept an eye on the suspicious looking man. Suddenly the man pointed a pistol at the customer who had cashed the large cheque, snatched the bag containing the money, and turned to flee.

This was when Sisirakumara came into his own, adrenalin pumping through his arteries, he charged forward, grabbed the wrist of the had holding the pistol wrested the pistol away, at the same time wrestling the robber to the floor.

Other bystanders came to his assistance, the criminal was completely overpowered and handed over to the Police. It was discovered only later that the pistol was not a genuine firearm but a fake.