By Madura Ranwala-August 26, 2014
In a well planned raid, the Kollupitiya police on Monday night arrested six suspects, a retired army major, a university chief marshall, a civil engineer, a garment factory owner, a pharmacy owner and a principal when they attempted to sell an antique passport for Rs. 30 million to police decoys who acted as buyers. The police said the travel document of historical value had been stolen.
They were arrested inside a 24-hour private bank at Slave Island on Monday around 9.40 p.m.
The passport belonged to British National, Richard Alexander Cameron, who was a police sub inspector in the then Ceylon. The passport gives Cameron’s date of birth as April 26, 1894. It had been issued to him in 1926 under the Crown Colony of Ceylon.
Fort Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage released the suspects on bail.
The Kollupitiya police had acted on a complaint on August 13 from Jayantha Perera, a relative of the original owner of the passport.
He has said in his complaint that he wanted to sell it to as he wanted money for his child’s ailment. Therefore, he gave the passport to three brokers to find a buyer at the Cinnamon Grand hotel. They were never seen again.
