Wolfendahl police arrested a Tamil suspect who collected ‘Kappam’ under the guise of the TMVP from Tamil businessmen in Colombo.

The suspect had collected millions of rupees using the names of Karuna Amman and Pillaiyan, ASP Premalal Ranagala told ‘The Island’ yesterday. The suspect under interrogation had divulged that he had been aided and abetted by several others and they had deposited large sums of money in several bank accounts. The amounts were too large for him to remember and police would soon arrest his confidantes too, ASP Ranagala said.

The suspects had invested some money in a jam and confectionery factory in Chilaw. He had frequented Colombo business establishments and collected their owner’s numbers so that he could demand protection money from them over the phone, police said.

The suspect used to call the businessmen and give them bank account numbers and order them to deposit money. Usually, the businessmen were asked to deposit an amount ranging between Rs. five million to 10 million, the suspect told the police. The businessmen, out of fear for their lives had complied with the order. One of the businessmen had alerted Wolfendahl police about the suspect. Police had deployed a special team and it took a month for the team to trace and arrest the suspect.

The suspect had been earlier attached to the EPDP and had deserted the organization.