| Two persons, a female medical student and a person unqualified to conduct laboratory tests, were arrested in a raid last week in the vicinity of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) at Katuwawala, Boralesgamuwa.
The Mirihana police said the two had been issuing fake certificates for persons applying for driving licences.
The business partners had carried out eye tests, blood tests and medical fitness tests, said detectives attached to the Mirihana Crime Division. The police had conducted Thursday’s raid on the business partners’ office, under the directions of Superintendent Deshabandu Tennakoon.
The 22-year-old medical student had used a rubber seal belonging to a qualified doctor who was unaware that his name was being used for the purpose.
According to Mirihana Crimes Division OIC Ajith Mettananda, the police, acting on a tip-off, had deployed plain-clothed officers to deal with the suspects before raiding the office.
“Customers were charged Rs. 1,000 for the so-called doctor’s services , Rs. 500 for the lab tests, and another Rs. 200 if they came through a broker,” the OIC said. “The couple were raking in about Rs. 30,000 a day.”
At the time of the raid, at least nine people were waiting to obtain their “medical certificates.”
“The danger with this kind of racket is that people not eligible for a driving licence – people with weak eyesight or who are medically unfit to drive a vehicle – can get a licence,” said SI Mettananda said.
The partners had been operating their business for the past eight months. |
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