Women traders on the mat: Fags sold to the underaged

by S.M. Wijayaratne, Kurunegala Cor

Two women traders who sold cigarettes to underaged boys were fined Rs. 8 000 by Chief Magistrate of Kurunegala, Ravindra Thilakaratne.

The accused were A. Gunawathie and Thanuja Weerasinghe of Malkaduwawa, Kurunegala. Both pleaded guilty.

"About 8,000 persons have died of smoking during the past eight years in both Kurunegala and Puttalam districts and hence the Department of Health Services has intensified its programs of educating the school community, on the evil consequences of smoking. Over 450 awareness programs would be conducted this year in government schools in the NWP," said Manjula Abeywickrama, PHI of Bamunawala who conducted the raid employing a decoy to arrest the suspects.