Colombo Chief Magistrate Thanuja Lakmali has ordered the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) to obtain a report from the Government Analyst to determine who tampered with a seized stock of foreign liquor.
The order follows the discovery that bottles of liquor presented for court-ordered destruction had been altered, containing only plain water and tea-colored liquid.
A total of 81 foreign liquor bottles and 150 beer bottles, previously stored in the court’s case goods room, have now been handed over to the Government Analyst for inspection.
The suspicious alteration was noticed on February 17 during the scheduled destruction process, as per an earlier order by Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasekara.
When it became evident that the contents were not genuine alcoholic beverages, the bottles were resealed and returned to the case goods room.
The Chief Magistrate has called for an immediate investigation to identify those responsible for replacing the original alcohol with non-alcoholic substances.
The latest order was issued after the police formally requested a Government Analyst’s report to confirm the nature of the contents.
