A retired Deputy Excise Commissioner and an Excise Department corporal have been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over allegations of accepting bribes.
According to the Commission, the arrests were made yesterday (05).
The suspects have been identified as Channa Weerakkody, a retired Deputy Excise Commissioner, and Sampath Ranasinghe, an Excise Corporal attached to the Matara Excise Station, CIABOC noted.
The retired Deputy Excise Commissioner is accused of accepting cheques issued from the accounts of a legally licensed company under his supervision as bribes. The alleged offences occurred while he was serving as the Excise Superintendent of Kalutara and as the Acting Excise Superintendent (Distilleries) in Aluthgama.
The Excise Corporal is accused of accepting the same cheques as bribes despite having no official authority to receive them in his capacity as an Excise Department officer serving at the company's distillery.
Both suspects are scheduled to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court.
