No drugs in sweets, suspects discharged

Kandy Chief Magistrate Harsha Setunge discharged two suspects after the Government Analyst reported to Court that there was no trace of drugs in the sweets examined. Suspicions were raised in March 2005, when around six students of Kandy Sarasavi Vidyalaya were admitted to the Peradeniya Hospital having taken ill after consuming some sweets.

A dancer Chandralal Dharmasiri and businessman Herath D. Nanditha were taken into custody on March 4, 2005 by the Peradeniya Police and later released on bail. Dharmasiri said he had brought the sweets from Thailand and distributed it among his friends. Some of these were brought to the school by a student and she in turn had distributed these sweets to her friends. Wijaya Wickramaratne PC with Attorneys Ms. Aruni Dhanapala and Thirantha Herath appeared for the first suspect, while Attorney-at-Law Nanda Senanayake appeared for the second suspect.