4. Section 7 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section is substituted therefor :-
| 7.
| | (1) The Commissioner- General of Excise or any officer of me Excise Department of a rank not below that of Inspector or any officer of the Customs Department of a rank not below that of Superintendent or any police officer not below the rank of a Sub-Inspector of Police-
| | | (a) may on the authority of a warrant issued by a Magistrate, upon information obtained and after such inquiry as he thinks necessary having reason to believe that an offence under this Act has been or is likely to be committed ; or |
| (b) may without a warrant, whenever an offence under this Act is being or likely to be, committed, in case where a search warrant cannot be obtained without affording the offender an opportunity of escape or of concealing evidence of the offence being or likely to be committed, after recording the grounds of his belief, |
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| | (2) Any officer referred to in subsection (1) may, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by that subsection
| | | (a) seize any contraband in possession of such person, carried or transported in any such boat, vessel, vehicle or container, or kept or stored in such factory or premises; |
| (b) seize any document in the possession of any such person, carried in any such boat, vessel, vehicle or container or kept or stored in any factory or premises, which may be produced as evidence of such offence ; |
| (c) arrest and detain any person for committing an offence under this Act, if such person is in possession of contraband or if he is in control of any boat, vessel, vehicle or container used in the commission of an offence under this Act; |
| (d) seize any boat, vessel, vehicle, container or any other article or equipment which appears to such officer to have been or being used in the commission of the offence or which may be produced as evidence of such offence. |
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| | (3) Every officer referred to in subsection (1), shall be deemed to be a Peace Officer, within the meaning and for the purposes of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of 1979. | | |
| | (4) Every person who resists or obstructs an officer referred to in subsections (1) and (2), in the exercise by such officer of the powers conferred on him by those subsections, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts