Colonial Lighting Rods Mafia
Apr 02, 2017
At a time misusing of state property has become a hot topic. In recent times, there were a lot of rumors about certain personnel trying to steal the lightning rods that had been installed in plantation bungalows during the Colonial era, due to the belief that they could be sold for Millions of Rupees.
According to reports, over 90% of these lightning rods that have belonged to both state and private estates have already been taken out. Lanka News Web we take a part to search on this matter.
According to reports, the price of these lightning rods have been “set” for , Rs. 500 Million. With the belief that foreign buyers are coming to Sri Lanka to buy these products, many people who own houses that contain such lightning rods have removed them to be sold for these buyers at a high price. As the rumors claim, these lightning rods are alleged to have contained “Positon”. However, so far no scientific tests have been conducted to confirm whether this hypothesis is true. But with the belief of these elements being used to develop nuclear weapons and that the NASA is interested in these materials these people have been defrauded by the racketeers. Therefore there are cases where people had even bought such lightning rods for higher prices with the hope of selling them for foreigners for Rs.500 Million. Bur so far there has been no incident of anyone actually buying such instruments. Ultimately these innocent people have gone bankrupt by trying to follow a foolish dream.
We were able to uncover some evidence that could lead to the revelation of the Mafia that is being going on to rob people’s money by cheating them. According to sources, some of these scammers have made some telephone calls to wealthy individuals asking about the market value of these lightning rods. In some occasions these racketeers have even used foreign agents by giving them a small sum of money. This has induced some of these wealthy individuals to purchase lightning rods for a high price with the hope of selling it to the foreigner. Since the expectations is Rs.500 Million, these wealthy individuals have not been afraid to spend 3,5 even 10 Million Rupees to buy these instruments.
These scams are not a new thing to our society. In the recent past there was another scam that went around the country that was involved with old coins with the portrait of King Edward. While many had tried to find these coins, it was later revealed that there had not even been a king like that that that time in England.
Another rumor about these lightning rods has claimed that they could be sold to 12.5 Million or 15 Million Rupees if the pate is made of bronze with the VOC label. In reality, these colonial plantations were built during the British era. Hence there is no possibility of such bungalows containing lightning rods that bear the mark or Dutch East India Trading Company.
One such person who had been caught up with this scam is an Engineer. According to him, he had first heard this story whilst working as an Engineer at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. Believing it to be true, he had quitted his job and had purchased a lightning rod for a high price and has been waiting for a buyer along with some other employees. Another person who revealed his plight to us said that he had spent all his earnings on buying these lightning rods and that now he does not even have money even to put a reload. According to some sources, even politicians have been fooled by these scammers. In another story, a CEO of a well-known company who had possessed 4 lightning rods at his bungalow had removed one of them hoping to sell it for Rs.500 Million. This has also increased the risk of thievery as the owners of these lightning rods have even been compelled to put concrete upon these lightning rods to protect them from stealing. But this harms the effectiveness of the lightning rod.
According to the law, any archeological assets that are possessed by private citizens can only sell them to other parties with the permission of the Department of Archeology. Expressing his views on the matter, Additional Director General of the Department of Archeology Prasanna Rathnayake said “Recently we had to deal with such a case. A person from Lankathilaka temple called me to inquire whether it is true that these lightning rods could be sold for 500 Million Rupees. According to him, a person had offered to buy these lightning rods claiming that they could be used to make something with Radium that are found in these rods. When we inquired the issue from the Atomic Energy Authority, he said that matter does not transform into another matter like that. The person who informed us this issue is a respectable citizen in the country. He even said that if this is real, he is willing to sell the lighting rod and donate the money to the state. I asked him to direct this buyer to us. But so far no one has come to meet us”.
Speaking on the matter, Additional Director General of the Department of Archeology Prasanna Rathnayake said that removing these items is against the law. He said that this is a massive scam that is going on in the country where ignorant people are being fooled by a group of racketeers.
Furthermore, these scammers have even discussed with these people how they are going to split the 5oo Million Rupees. Accordingly, the money is alleged to be split amongst the owner of the estate, the informant, the middle man etc. Sometimes these scammers have even gone to such lengths as to performing “mock tests” to find out the magnetic power of these plates by using pencils and even rice. In a formal manner, they have even pasted stickers to show that these plates had indeed contained positons.
However, defrauding innocent people with these stories is a serious crime. Apart from cheating people, these scams have even led to vandalizing archeological treasures in the country. Hence Lanka News Web we would like to request the public not to be fooled by these scammers. If the government does not intervene to put an end to these fraudulent activities soon the country is going to be faced with much trouble. Do you have any details of those write to us will protect your identity.
Ash Waru
