Tea time turns tipsy in Kandy hotel

• People passing by, saw customers in a merry mood and thought they were enjoying their tea while they were actually drinking moonshine
• The owner of the hotel and its employee sold illicit liquor under the pretext of serving tea and soft drinks

By Shane Seneviratne

People passing by a hotel in the Kandy central market thought customers were enjoying their tea. However, these patrons of the hotel were sipping illegally brewed liquor in the guise of drinking tea to evade being nabbed by law enforcers.   

The owner of the hotel and its employee who sold illicit liquor under the pretext of serving tea and soft drinks were arrested by Kandy Division Anti Vice Squad yesterday.  

The suspects had in their possession eight bottles of illicit liquor at the time of arrest. Investigations revealed that a waiter attached to the tea maker’s counter supplied illicit liquor under the pretext of serving tea to the customer on payment of cash.  

Police said one of the suspects had peddled a large stock of illicit liquor before the raid and that only eight bottles had been left.  

Investigations revealed that the owner of the hotel was from Ampitiya and his employee a former soldier and that they had been carrying on the racket for a long time. They were to be produced before Kandy Magistrate yesterday afternoon.  

A police team under OIC Anti Vice Squad CI Thilak Samaranayake had carried out the raid on the instructions of SSP Anuruddha Bandaranayaka.