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COLOMBO (News 1st); A suspected attempt to sabotage operations at the Sevanagala Sugar Factory was thwarted after a massive black stone was discovered hidden within a fresh delivery of sugarcane.
The incident occurred early Thursday (31) morning when a stock of approximately 4.5 tons of sugarcane was brought into the factory.
During routine unloading, a vigilant machine operator noticed something unusual embedded within the bundle.
“A load arrived. I was there when it came. After unloading, since the load was a bit high, I waited until it settled and brought two more bundles. When I came back, I saw the stone because of the height of the bundle,” the operator said.
“I told them there was a stone and to take a look. I said it couldn’t be put in—it was too big. If that stone had gone in, our single cutter would have broken down. That would have completely stopped operations at Sevanagala. Something like this happened before too—a smaller stone got stuck in the cutter and the factory had to shut down for weeks.”
A spokesperson for the factory confirmed that the stone, if processed along with the sugarcane, could have seriously damaged machinery, potentially halting sugar production and causing significant financial losses.
The factory has launched an internal investigation into the incident. However, as of Thursday (31) afternoon, no further details have been released.