Reply To:
Name - Reply Comment
By Srinath Prasanna Jayasuriya
A blind man (65) who had been begging on trains for 25 years which had enabled him to build three houses and own a bank account with Rs. five hundred thousand in it, was arrested by the Railway Security Service on Monday (4).
He told the authorities that of the three houses he had built he had already given two to his daughters as dowries while the third he was planning to give out on rent. On the day he was arrested he had in his possession Rs. 4000 that he had collected from commuters travelling between the Gampaha-Colombo Fort Railway Stations.
He is a widower and a resident of Gampaha. He explained that he had not forgotten his duty to his two daughters who now own cars while his son-in-laws too have good jobs.
He said blindness is a blessing in disguise which had helped him earn Rs. 150,000 a month.
He said his two daughters know that he begs on trains. When he was arrested he was decently dressed and travels to the station in a trishaw. When one of his daughters got to know that he had been arrested by the Railway Security, she had come to get him, arriving at Railway Security Headquarters in her car.
Assistant Superintendent of Railway Security M.P. Jayantha conducted inquiries on the instructions of Superintendent of Railway Security Anura Premaratna.