Three people have been arrested by the Sri Lankan police as they were trying to sell 40 gold-plated brass sockets stolen from the President's House here after angry demonstrators stormed the iconic building during an unprecedented anti-government protest over the severe economic crisis in the country.
On July 9, anti-government protesters occupied the official residence of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the private home of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The mob also torched the private residence of Wickremesinghe.
Three persons who entered the President's House at Fort on July 9 during protest have been arrested with 40 gold-plated brass sockets that were fixed on the walls to hang window curtains, the online newspaper Daily Mirror reported.
The Welikada police arrested the suspects while attempting to sell the stolen items on Sunday, it said.
The arrested suspects, aged 28, 34 and 37, are residents of Obeysekarapura in Rajagiriya. Police said the three were also suspected drug addicts.
They will be handed over to the Colombo (North) Criminal Investigation Division, which is handling the investigations of the incidents, the report said.