Alarm bells ring over stolen package from phone company

By Shane Seneviratne

A parcel found at the Pujapitiya bus halt at the main bus stand in Kandy town created panic with the bomb squad being called in and commuters being evacuated. It was later revealed that the parcel belonging to a private phone company had been stolen while it was being couriered from the Colombo office to the kandy branch in a Matale bound bus.

Police said the package containing phone cards worth of over Rs. 3 lakhs had been stolen from the bus when it had stopped at the Goods Shed bus stop. They said eye witnesses had seen a man getting off the bus with a parcel. Police believe that the man had probably panicked on realising that a routine search operation was underway at the bus halt and had left the parcel at the Pujapitiya bus halt and walked off.

The parcel was later handed over to the manager of the Suntel Kandy branch.