Daily NEWS Srilanka

When a group of policemen were on the pursuit of a lorry loaded with 18 heads of cattle in Chulankulam area along Anuradhapura - Puttalam A-4 main road, the lorry had kept on moving and had struck a cab and a motor bike too. Thus two young women who were on the motor bike breathed their last yesterday

The two young females who died from this accident which occured at about 8 in the morning happened to be two sisters of the same family and both of them were graduates. One of them died on the spot while the other died in hospital. The two sisters were Jayani Swetha Jayakody (32) and Samadhi Navodya Jayakody (29) living in Nochchiyagama, Galadivulwewa. Jayani was employed as an accounts clerk while Samadhi served as a teacher and both were unmarried. They met with this tragedy when they were on their way to Anuradhapura town for some requirement when they met with this accident.

A crowd of people in the area who who after seeing this catastrophe had become aggressive for negligent driving of the lorry which was fleeing in fear of the police for having committed something beyond the law and had assaulted the driver of the lorry and had even gone to the extent of setting fire to the vehicle which had by then toppled, it was reported. The police had intervened and brought the situation under control. At the moment the lorry toppled, the cattle inside it had scampered here and there. From the accident the lorry has faced severe damage.

The police vehicle which was pursuing the lorry had without taking action to take the casualties of the accident to hospital had turned back towards Anuradhapura, about which those around had scorned. What was revealed at initial investigations was that 18 heads of cattle were being transported from Trincomalee to Welisara to be slaughtered for consumption armed with a licence for that purpose. However why they sped without stopping ignoring police orders is a problem which needs explanation. An inquiry on the 2 police officers on the manner in which they had gone into action at the time the accident took place is to be carried out.