By Saman Indrajith

The government had spent only Rs 900,000 for the inauguration ceremony of ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative, Chief Government Whip and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said in Parliament yesterday (10).

Jayatissa said so issuing a clarification on New Democratic Front (NDF) MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake’s allegation on Thursday that the government has spent over seven million rupees on the event.

“We have not even paid the 900,000 rupees to various service providers,” the Minister said.

Jayatissa said the government had called for quotations to manage the event and Dassanayake was quoting one of the quotations sent by an organization.

“Of course, companies will send quotations citing various numbers. The MP proposed that he will resign if his statement on Thursday is proven wrong. I don’t think he should take such drastic measures, but his statement is false,” he said.

By Hemantha Randunu

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russian, Udayanga Weeratunga, was arrested yesterday (10) by the Mirihana Police for assaulting a neighbour.The incident occurred at Kanatta Road, Thalapathpitiya, Mirihana, where Weeratunga resides.

The assault reportedly stemmed from a dispute with his neighbour over the boundary wall separating their properties.Weeratunga had allegedly struck the neighbour with a pipe.

Hospital sources have confirmed that the neighbour has sustained facial injuries, requiring five stitches.

Mirihana Police are conducting further investigations. Following his arrest, Weeratunga was brought before the Nugegoda Magistrate and was remanded until the 17th January.

A. J.A. Abeynayake

A 25-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday (10th) by Colombo High Court Judge Manjula Thilakaratne after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle over 25 grams of heroin into the Colombo Remand Prison. The narcotic had been concealed in a false bottom of a food container he had brought for a friend detained at the prison.

The Attorney General filed charges against the accused for possession and trafficking of 25.094 grams of heroin. The court determined that both charges were proven beyond reasonable doubt, leading the judge to impose life sentences for each offence.

The incident was uncovered when an intelligence officer, attached to the Welikada Remand Prison, became suspicious of a container containing cooked meat and rice. Upon inspection, he discovered a false bottom concealing the heroin, along with a mobile phone and accessories.

The accused claimed in court that he had visited his friend’s house after receiving a phone call from him. Subsequently, a person who arrived in a three-wheeler handed him the food container on 4th December 2019, asking him to deliver it to his friend. He insisted that he was unaware of the heroin and other prohibited items concealed inside.

However, the court rejected this statement, with Judge Thilakaratne ruling it to be a false account intended to evade responsibility. The judge noted that the accused failed to provide any information about the individual who handed him the container or the vehicle involved.

Senior State Counsel Akalanka Balapatabendi, representing the prosecution, urged the court to impose the maximum penalty, citing the significant harm caused by the spread of drug trafficking across the country. Considering the gravity of the offence and its impact on society, the judge dismissed the defence’s arguments as implausible and handed down the sentence.

The life sentence was formally read to the accused, Devaraja Lawrence, by High Court translator Malshi Nimgama Fernando.