Raids net liquor, drugs offenders
Rasika Somarathna
Excise sleuths arrested over 1,000 persons who sold liquor and drugs
during the Vesak Season.
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Drop in accidents
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Shirley Wijesinghe
There was no notable increase in
the number of accidents during Vesak compared to last year,
Colombo National Hospital sources said.
The number of victims admitted to Colombo hospital during Vesak
Poya and the day after were 100 and 108. Road accidents reported
during the two days were about 30 percent of all accidents. The
number of victims admitted to the hospital during the Vesak
period exceeded 525. |
The arrests were made following islandwide raids by Excise Department
special detection units.
The Government prohibited the sale of liquor on May 27 and 28 on
account of the Vesak festival.
Excise spokesman and Senior Officer Prabhath Jayawickrema said
special detection units were deployed islandwide to crackdown on
offenders following directions by Commissioner General of Excise
Wasantha Hapuarachchi. Jayawickrema said round the clock vigilance by
excise sleuths were intended at preventing the breach of rules and
regulations with regard to sale of liquor during the Vesak season.
He said out of 914 detections, 48 cases were related to illicit
brewing and 62 were related to prohibited drugs sales.
“The raids would continue as a deterrent to illegal liquor and drugs
dealers”, he added.
The special operations are been carried out under the direction of
Deputy Excise Commissioners A. Bodaragama and Wasantha Kumara. |
