Colombo, May 16 - The hotel ‘Soul Beach,’ which was located in Dehiwala and later demolished, is suspected to have belonged to Shiran Basik, an alleged major drug smuggler currently operating from abroad, was alleged to have been built on government land, it was revealed.

The hotel’s structures were removed in January this year by the Coast Guard and Police after it was found to be an illegal construction.

However, a group of individuals who were carrying out construction work at the site were taken into the custody on Tuesday for illegal construction.

Mount Lavinia Division Special Investigation Unit officers revealed that the tax deed presented by the suspects had been forged.

Accordingly, 14 suspects were arrested on Tuesday and remanded till May 28 after being presented in Court.

Following an inspection carried out by surveyors from the Government Survey Department, the subject land has been reported to be a government-owned land.