22 September 2023 09:35 am Views - 83
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
The Court of Appeal has affirmed the life imprisonment imposed by the Colombo High Court against a former Army Major convicted of committing the offences of possession and trafficking of 5.9 kilograms of heroin in 2006.
After trial, accused Kamal Shantha Kariyawasam was found guilty of possession and trafficking of Heroin, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on both counts by Colombo High Court in a judgement dated August 12, 2015. Subsequently, the accused filed this appeal, challenging both the conviction and the sentence.
Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justices Sampath B. Abayakoon and P. Kumararatnam observed that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused.
The accused was arrested while transporting heroin in a private bus at the Parayanakulam checkpoint in Medawachchiya. Murukkan Police then OIC Upul Seneviratne had made arrangements for the arrest. He has received a telephone call from a Captain of the Thalladi Army Camp of a person travelling with a suspicious parcel, which may be a concealed weapon. He had received another telephone call with the information that the suspected person was in a private bus travelling towards Colombo.