Kandy cleared of vagrants for now

By Shane Seneviratne

More than one hundred homeless people from Kandy town were removed to the suburbs until the end of the Esala Perahera festivities this week, police said. The police suspect that many of the homeless people were brought in by an organized group of individuals who employed the homeless to beg for alms for a certain commission.

The police said most of the beggars taken into custody in Kandy were in possession of more than Rs.5000 each. A senior Police official said that among many beggars taken into custody last week, two were apprehended after spending Rs.3,500 for transport in a three-wheeler to get into Kandy to continue their operations.