Ethanol suspect further remanded

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The businessman who was alleged to have imported two containers of contraband ethanol by labelling them as rosin resin and sulphate turpentine was ordered to be further remanded till 30 April by a Colombo Court yesterday.

When the suspect, Ranga Dharshana Samaranayake of Padukka, was produced before Colombo Additional Magistrate Sandun Vithana, the Customs officers filed a further investigation report in Court.

The Customs officers told Court that though the suspect had earlier admitted that the funding to import the ethanol was made by two foreign nationals, the prosecutors maintained that his statement was false.

The Customs officers further submitted to Court that investigations had revealed that an amount of Rs. 9 million had been remitted to a bank account belonging to the suspect on 23 January this year.  At a previous magisterial inquiry, the Customs Director told Court that the Industrial Technological Institute (ITI) had asserted that the contents in the two containers held in Customs’ custody were not rosin resin and sulphate turpentine but ethanol with an alcohol content of 96%, valued at Rs. 31 million. The Customs officers said the two containers contained 65,100 litres of ethanol. Accordingly, the value of the ethanol was Rs. 31,868,894 and the importer had to pay an excessive amount as import duty than what he had already paid.

The Customs officers further said ethanol was contraband in Sri Lanka and the suspect had imported it by suppressing and misrepresenting facts. It was an offence only bailable by the High Court.