Sigiriya Police have arrested three men aged 25 and 26 over a roadside assault on a hired-car driver near the Sigiriya Post Office on June 11, after video of the confrontation circulated on social media and triggered a public identification of the suspects.
Investigators said a group of schoolchildren were celebrating a birthday by throwing eggs at each other when several eggs accidentally struck a parked hired car around 1:45 pm. The driver advised the children against the behaviour on the road, and they began cleaning the vehicle.
According to police, two men from a nearby shop then approached the scene, verbally abusing and physically assaulting the driver while questioning why he had reprimanded the children. The encounter was filmed and shared online.
All three suspects, residents of the Sigiriya and Galewela areas, were identified from the circulating video. One had fled the area but was tracked down and arrested on the morning of June 13. They will be produced before court, and further investigations are ongoing.
The case is the latest in a string of recent incidents in which viral social-media video has driven rapid police action against alleged street-side assaults. A Galle family of four was arrested earlier this month over a recorded attack on a 16-year-old theft suspect, Mirihana Police arrested a man for assaulting a Pannipitiya fuel-station worker after the clip went viral, and nine suspects were taken into custody in Gokarella after footage of an attack on a woman spread online.
