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Lester’s lifetime award found on bus rack
View(s):A lifetime achievement award belonging to Dr Lester James Peries that went missing during the funeral of the renowned film maker was found abandoned on an overhead rack of an airconditioned private bus plying from Kollupitya to Kaduwela yesterday morning, police said. The award had apparently gone missing on Wednesday no sooner the coffin was removed from his residence at Dr Lester James Peries Mawatha,Thimbirigasyaya.
The bus in which the award was found, at the Kollupitiya Police Station. Pix by Indika Handuwala
The driver and conductor of the bus had noticed an unattended parcel on an overhead rack when the bus reached the terminal at Kollupitiya around 7.30 p.m. On inspection it turned out to be the life time achievement award, that had been awarded to Dr. Peries by the Indian Government in 2000.
The driver and conductor informed the Kollupitiya police who are carrying out further investigations.
Earlier on, leading artists had appealed for the return of the award soon after they heard about its disappearance.
Initially it was widely reported that what had gone missing was the Golden Peacock award that Dr. Peries won in 1965. However veteran actor Ravindra Randeniya later clarified that what had been stolen was the lifetime achievement award given by the Indian government. He said that the Golden Peacock award which had been kept at the Film Corporation in Colombo 07, had gone missing about 15 years back and had not been recovered.
Meanwhile, five wallets of popular film personalities and a mobile phone had been stolen during the funeral, police said.
The recovered award
The driver of the bus in which the award was found