Liquor bottles seized with forged security stamps State Minister of Finance to go to CID

• Excise seized stocks of local liquor bottles pasted with a forged security sticker from Thambuttegama, Thalawa and Kahatagasdigiliya last week

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Following the recent detection of liquor bottles with fake security stamps from countrywide locations by the Excise Department, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya yesterday said that he would lodge a complaint regarding the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and call for a immediate probe.   

 Minister Siyambalapitiya said that he had received the full report of the detection of liquor stocks with forged stickers from the Excise Commissioner General and would move in the matter for the CID to launch an immediate probe to bring the perpetrators to book. Addressing a media briefing at the ministry yesterday the State Minister said that other than the intended legal action on the matter, they were determining to understand the disparity of certain stickers by checking the ‘digital indication’ of those security stamps through a forensic audit.