Connect with us

News

Man arrested for cooking venison in Yala Bungalow!

Published

on

Three kilos of venison and wild boar meat have been seized while a group of visitors were preparing them at the Old Pier Bungalow (Yala Bungalow) reserved for VIPs in the Yala National Park.

This bungalow can only be reserved for the VIPs through the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, and questions have been raised as to how this group has reserved the bungalow.

The bungalow had been given to this group of people who arrived from Beliatta for two days on June 06 and 07. They have brought one and a half kilos of venison and one and a half kilos of wild boar meat to the bungalow and instructed the watchman to cook the meat for them.

However, when the watchman objected, the visitors had said that they would complain to Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi if he did not cook the meat.

The watchman has insisted that he would not cook venison.

Later on, the wildlife officials raided the bungalow when one visitor was preparing venison.

One man was arrested by the wildlife officials for possessing venison and he was fined Rs.60,000 after being produced in the Tissamaharama Magistrate’s Court.

The Yala Wildlife Officials are conducting investigations into the incident since the supply, possession and transportation of venison within National Parks is strictly prohibited.

News

Rocky successfully carries out ‘call termination’ racket

Published

on

By

Local phone service providers including Telecom and Mobitel as well as the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) are losing a colossal amount of revenue due to a ‘call termination’ racket operating in Sri Lanka, it was reported.

Agencies conducting investigations into the matter have received information that one such racketeer earns as much as Rs.02 – 05 million per day.

It was reported that these racketeers earn this amount by redirecting over 100,000 minutes of IDD calls in a single day.

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC is equipped with the technology to detect this kind of call termination scams and has also set up a separate unit called the ‘Fraud Management Unit’ solely for this purpose.

This unit, which is currently operating under the networking division, is said to have been well-functioning when it was under the financial division.

Senior officials reportedly shirked from launching investigations into these racketeers by citing the arrival of mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat, IMO, Viber and Messenger as the reason for these daily revenue losses.

Meanwhile, investigations have revealed that the racket is currently being largely operated by an individual named ‘Rocky’ who is originally from Gampola and has now settled in Colombo.

Investigations revealed that Rocky is pretending to be an UK national and uses a phone number registered in England.

Apart from this, he is also said to be involved in Undiyal transactions.

He has been arrested by the police in connection with this fraud on a previous occasion as well.

According to security forces, those involved in this racket continue to do so again even after being reprimanded, as the relevant fine is as low as Rs.10,000.

Security forces also note that since such racketeers also support terrorist activities, questioning them under detention orders would enable them to weed out this racket altogether.

Heads of mobile phone service providers allege that the arrest of such traffickers keep getting delayed due to the lukewarm reaction by the investigation departments.

Meanwhile, former chairpersons of service providers, former cricket players and former presidential secretaries have also been accused by the media of being involved in this racket.

Continue Reading

News

Excise officials kidnap beedi businessman & forcefully take Rs.1mn

Published

on

By

The Walasmulla Police have launched an investigation into an incident where a Beedi businessman was kidnapped and assaulted before forcefully taking Rs.1 million from him.

The business license of the businessman residing in Maraketiya, Rajapuragoda in Walasmulla expired on June 26. A team of excise officials including the OIC of the Tangalle Excise Unit had arrived at his house on September 18 and seized the Beedi leaves.

Excise officials had demanded Rs.1.4 million from the businessman not to take legal action in this regard.

They had taken the businessman away in a three-wheeler, beaten him up, and then had taken an amount of Rs.1 million by force.

Continue Reading

News

Test kits ordered to detect ‘Nipah’ virus

Published

on

By

Steps have been taken to import special test kits needed for the detection of ‘Nipah’ virus, the Health Ministry said.

Special test kits recommended by the World Health Organization have been ordered to detect the virus and they are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka in a few days.

Commenting further, Virologist Dr. Janaki Abeynayake said that no specific treatment or vaccine has been developed globally for patients infected with Nipah virus.

However, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige said that there is no high risk of the virus spreading among countries since the virus spreading pace is slower.

The Ministry requested the public not panic over the virus that has been reported in several countries including India.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 Sri Lanka Mirror. All Rights Reserved