The Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction of an Army officer for drug offences

The Court of Appeal has affirmed the life imprisonment imposed by the Colombo High Court against a former Army Major convicted of possessing and trafficking 5.9 kilogrammes of heroin in 2006.

After trial, accused Kamal Shantha Kariyawasam was found guilty of possession and trafficking heroin and sentenced to life imprisonment on both counts by the Colombo High Court in a judgement dated August 12, 2015. Subsequently, the accused filed an appeal, challenging both the conviction and the sentence.

The Court of Appeal's 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 about 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 travelling in a private bus towards Colombo.