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Doctors thought he might have orthopaedic complications, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. "But the X-ray showed a cell phone and two hands-free kits."
Medical staff prepared to carry out a surgical procedure on the prisoner, the source said.
"However, the man said 'Sir, sir, please give me a moment.' He coughed, wriggled, shrugged his muscles and the items fell on the ground," the source said.
The awkward incident reveals how Sri Lanka's prison officials discovered the latest round of phone smuggling into the high security Welikade Prison, in the northern sector of the capital, Colombo.
The prisoner explained his situation to the doctors, recounting how had been chatting on the cell phone with a relative when prison officials carried out a surprise check on his ward, the source said.
"He had no place to hide it. So he thrust it in his rectum together with the two hands-free kits," he said of the prisoner.
At nighttime, to avoid detection, the prisoners cover themselves with a bed sheet, hide the phone near the body and use the hands free kit, the source added.
Siripala's undoing came when the person he had been speaking to rang back. The ringing tone came from his back and prison officials grabbed him, the source said.
The prisoner alleges he was beaten by prison guards, causing the back pain that resulted in his trip to hospital and subsequent X-ray.
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