(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Several bulletproof vehicles that were imported during the war for the security of Presidents and diplomats were dumped in the deep sea area off the western coast and destroyed last morning.
The eight vehicles were taken to the deep sea area with the aid of a Nnaval vessel, and dumped in the deep sea area, said Acting Navy Spokesman Lt.Com. K.K.C. Udayanga.
He told the LANKAPUVATH that prior to sinking these luxury vehicles, the communication equipment and other valuable accessories were removed from these bullet proof vehicles.
“These bulletproof vehicles cannot be auctioned and due their strength these cannot be crushed and destroyed either. Hence, it was decided to destroy them in this manner,” he said.
It is believed that these vehicles were handed over to the Navy to be dumped at sea and destroyed.
Meanwhile, an LTTE owned ship was also sunk in this manner yesterday.
This ship which belonged to the LTTE fleet previously, was taken control of by the Navy in Malaysia and brought back to Colombo. After the end of the war this ship ‘Weling’ was being used by the navy after it was renamed A522.
However due to years of use, the ship was in a dilapidated condition and although the Navy had auctioned it for scrap metal on several occasions, they had not received an acceptable bid to even cover the scrapping costs.
Therefore, it was decided to sink the ship in this manner, as is the practice worldwide, said the Acting Navy Spokesman.
