Counterfeit foolproof sticker investigation handed over to CID

By Saman Indrajith

Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies State Minister, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, yesterday said that the investigations on counterfeit stickers on bottles of liquor would be handed over to the CID.

Addressing a press conference, at the Ministry, in Colombo, the Minister said that he made the decision to hand over the probe to the CID after going through a report submitted to him by the Excise Commissioner General on the issue of counterfeit fool-proof stickers on bottles of liquor.

The Minister said that the issue of finding counterfeit stickers, on bottles of liquor, was reported in the media, last week, and then he ordered a report from the Excise Commissioner General.

“I received the report and decided to complain to the CID. The CID would investigate and decide the legal actions to be taken. In addition, I decided to commission a forensic investigation on the counterfeit stickers detected affixed on the bottles of liquor taken into custody so far. There is an opinion that these stickers could not be read by a QR code reader because there were problems in their digital indication. This forensic investigation would be handed over to a foreign company and their report is expected within a week. These investigations would be conducted, in addition to the ongoing investigations by the Excise Department. Our objective is to increase the government revenue, while protecting the consumers’ health,” the Minister said.