Sri Lanka, Aug. 17 -- A departmental inquiry has been launched into the misplacement of a consignment of school textbooks intended for distribution to schools in the Eastern Province, Deputy Minister of Education Dr Madhura Senevirathna said.

He said a departmental inquiry committee had been appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, while police investigations were also underway.

According to the findings of the police investigation so far, the first suspect had allegedly sold the consignment to a business establishment in Alawwa after the textbooks had been handed over for transport.

The owner of the establishment had subsequently resold the stock to another centre in Narammala, from where the textbooks wer...