STF seize large stock of refuse tea

by Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Police Special Task Force in a raid seized a large stock of refuse tea weighing over 32,000 kilograms from a warehouse in Wellampitiya last night.

The STF on a tip off raided the warehouse on Avissawella Road in Megoda Kolonnawa and recovered the stock of tea which was unsuitable for human consumption. A person who was in charge of the contraband was taken into custody. The stock of tea was handed over to the CID for further investigations after being inspected by officials of Tea Research Institute.

Meanwhile a tensed situation rose between the police and a gang in Dawlagala area on Friday morning when the Central Province Divisional Crime Detective Bureau tried to seize a lorry transporting a large stock of refuse tea. The police on information received, seized a lorry carrying refuse tea in Buwelikada area and took both the driver and the vehicle into custody. The tea was to be transported to Colombo.

When the police was escorting the lorry, a gang of several men who had come in a trishaw and a motorcycle had attempted to waylay the police convoy and tried to take away the lorry forcibly.

The police however with the aid of the people in the area had managed to disperse the crowd and proceed but they were obstructed again in the Gelioya area by a large mob who had eventually taken the lorry away. The DCDB with the assistance of the Peradeniya Police and Police Special Task Force had recovered the lorry at a secret location while the gang was trying to shift the contraband into another lorry.