A monk from a Mawanella temple had been abducted blindfolded by three men on January 18. They had left the monk inside a dilapidated house and fled after beating him for two days keeping him under starvation. They had robbed the monk of Rs. 125,000 as well.
The monk, Ven. Pinpare Sumanarathana Thera (58) has been stayed at the Pinketha Rajamaha Viharaya in the Padiyathalawa Police Division in Ampara. The Thera had come to Mawanella from Ampara to meet a vehicle dealer to resell a three wheeler. He had written a cheque to the monk for him to encash it in three months for the three wheeler. The Thera had purchased a motorcycle from the dealer with the balance, police said. After a few days, the monk had returned to Mawanella to get the cash from the dealer since the cheque got bounced.
When he arrived, his three wheeler was not to be seen at the shop. The dealer told the monk that the three wheeler was yet to be sold. He gave the monk Rs. 125,000 and informed the monk that the three wheeler was on hire.
The monk then came to Colombo to register the motorcycle he bought from the dealer. But he was told that he lacked the documents required to register the motorcycle. While he was returning, he had been abducted, Police said.
“I called the dealer from Mawanella and inquired him about the documents to register the motorcycle. He asked me to come to Mawanella to provide them. After arriving at Mawanella, when I was at the clock tower, a car stopped by me around 8.30 pm and an unknown person inside the car asked me to get into the car. I thought he could be a friend of the dealer and got into the car. Then I was blindfolded with a black cloth and my hands were tied. He then started beating me. My robe was removed and my money in a polythene bag under the robe was taken,” the monk had told police.
The monk was then taken to a isolated house and assaulted furthermore. He was dumped after two days on a cross road and warned not to tell anything to the police. However, the monk had lodged a complaint in the police about the incident.
The monk was admitted to the Hemmathagama Hospital and later transferred to the Mawanella Base Hospital.
Investigations are continuing.