Blast at Sri Lanka police station kills one, wounds 18

Colombo: A blast ripped through a police
station in central Sri Lanka on day, killing one person and
wounding at least 18 others, as constables were questioning an
army deserter arrested in connection with a drug offence.

A police official in the town of Nuwara Eliya said the
suspect, who has been identified as an army deserter, had
exploded a hand grenade while police tried to search him.

"The man set off the blast in an apparent bid to
escape from custody," the police official told PTI by
telephone from Nuwara Eliya, 180 kilometers east of Colombo.

A hospital official said 16 constables and two
civilians who were at the police station at the time were
wounded and brought to the Nuwara Eliya hospital for
treatment.

PTI