Man rearing four baby elephants fined Rs.100,000

A man who pleaded guilty to the charge of possessing four baby elephants without a valid licence was imposed a fine of Rs.100,000 and a two-year jail term suspended for five years by Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage.

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Mahinda Galappatti posed as a middleman who supplied elephants and tuskers to the President

The suspect was also charged for having cheated a businessman of Rs.3.3 million

At the time of his arrest, the suspect Mahinda Galappatti is reported to have posed as a middleman, who supplied elephants and tuskers to the President.

The Magistrate directed the police to hand over two of the elephants to the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens and the two others to the two temples from which they had been spirited away.

The suspect was also facing charges of having cheated a businessman of Rs.3.3 million by promising to bring him a baby tusker from Myanmar.

In this case he was released on a cash bail of Rs.50,000 with two sureties of one million each.

The suspect was arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division Special Investigation Unit based on a complaint lodged by a Minuwangoda businessman that the man had promised to obtain a baby tusker from Myanmar using his close ties with the President. The suspect is alleged to have told the complainant that a baby tusker would cost more than Rs.7.5 million and sought an advance payment of Rs.3.3 million. The complainant told police that he paid an advance of Rs.3.3 million but the suspect did not fulfill his promise as

agreed.