One of the two men arrested over an armed robbery at a liquor store near Anuradhapura Junction in Trincomalee on Thursday night is a serving police sergeant attached to Uppuveli Police Station who was posted to an armoury, the Daily Mirror reported.
The weapon used was a T-56 assault rifle.
Correction. This article originally reported, on Hiru News alone, that staff recovered the cash and that the raiders left empty-handed. The Daily Mirror’s account says the men threatened employees with a T-56 and fled with cash, and that police later recovered Rs. 11,500 believed stolen from the store. The two outlets do not agree on whether the robbery succeeded. The earlier framing should not be relied on.
What police recovered
Trincomalee Police arrested the two suspects within an hour of the robbery, acting on information received, while the men were staying at a temporary lodging facility within the Uppuveli Police Division. Hiru places that lodging in the Mihindupura area, which falls inside the same division.
Recovered in the arrests:
- Rs. 11,500 in cash, suspected to be the proceeds of the robbery
- The motorcycle allegedly used
- A T-56 firearm
- A magazine containing 29 rounds of ammunition
The suspects are aged 54 and 61 and are residents of Hakmana, in Matara District — some 400 kilometres from Trincomalee.
A sergeant, an armoury and a T-56
The Daily Mirror identifies one of the two as a Police Sergeant attached to Uppuveli Police Station and serving at an armoury in the Kilipunchimale area.
Neither outlet draws a link between that posting and the weapon, and none should be assumed. But the pairing is on the record and is the obvious question for the investigation: a T-56 with a nearly full magazine is standard police and military issue in Sri Lanka, and the man arrested with one was posted to a facility where such weapons are stored. Whether the rifle was his service weapon, came from the armoury, or was obtained elsewhere is not reported.
The arrest location compounds it. The sergeant was found at a lodging inside the police division he serves in.
What the two accounts agree on
Both outlets place the robbery at a liquor store near Anuradhapura Junction on the night of Thursday 18 September, both describe two men and a motorcycle, and both have the pair arrested at a lodging in the Uppuveli division shortly afterwards.
Hiru News reported that staff resisted, wrestled back the cash bag and briefly held one man, and that the second then fired at the employees and missed before both fled along Anuradhapura Road. The Daily Mirror does not mention a shot being fired or any resistance by staff.
Both versions can be partly true — staff may have recovered part of the takings while the men escaped with the rest, which would fit the modest Rs. 11,500 recovered. But that is a reconciliation neither outlet offers.
The CCTV, revisited
Hiru put the attack at around 9.45 p.m., while the CCTV still published with its report carries its own timestamp of 09-18-2026, Friday, 21:31:21 — about fourteen minutes earlier. The camera’s day stamp reads Friday, which is correct for 18 September 2026.
The frame shows the man standing away from the counter holding a longarm rather than a pistol. The Daily Mirror’s identification of the weapon as a T-56 confirms that reading.
Not reported
Neither outlet names the suspects, gives the sergeant’s length of service, or says whether he has been interdicted. Neither states what charges the two face, whether they have been produced in court, or how police were led to the lodging so quickly.
Crucially, no report says where the T-56 came from or whether the armoury at Kilipunchimale has been inventoried since the arrest. Nor does either outlet explain what two men from Hakmana were doing in Trincomalee, how they knew each other, or whether the store was targeted in advance.
It is not reported whether anyone was injured, whether the shot Hiru describes struck the premises, or whether the CCTV footage has been taken into evidence.
