Bus conductor dies after suspected drug packet bursts inside stomach

By Padmasiri Gardiyawasam

Colombo, June 11 (Daily Mirror) - A bus conductor employed on a private passenger bus operating between Tangalle and Makumbura on the Southern Expressway has died after a packet of suspected narcotics reportedly burst inside his stomach, police said.

The deceased was identified as Bassnayake Gunaratne, a 51-year-old father of one from Koratuwa, Rukthennagala, Modarawana.

According to police, the victim had been working as a temporary conductor on a private bus travelling from Tangalle to Makumbura. After spending the night in Colombo, he had returned to Tangalle on a bus from Makumbura.

Upon arriving in Tangalle, he handed over the bus keys and the day's cash collection to the owner and later attended a funeral in the town.

While there, he had suddenly fallen ill. He had subsequently arrived at the Tangalle bus stand, where he collapsed and began convulsing. Bystanders restrained his arms and legs before he was rushed to the Tangalle Base Hospital in a 1990 Suwa Seriya ambulance.

Police said he had died approximately two hours after being admitted to hospital. During the post-mortem examination, two packets weighing approximately 20 grams in total, suspected to contain the narcotic drug known as "Ice" (crystal methamphetamine), were discovered inside the deceased's stomach. Investigators found that one of the packets had ruptured, leading to suspicions that this may have caused his death.