Colombo, Sep 29: A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday remanded opposition leader Namal Rajapaksa until October 13, the third such order against him since his arrest on September 4 in a separate corruption case.
Rajapaksa, 40, the elder son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was remanded after being questioned by investigators of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over an alleged bribe linked to the Krish Hotels investment project involving an Indian company.
The latest case relates to an allegation that Rajapaksa accepted LKR 7 crore (around Rs. 2 crore) from the local agent of the Indian investment project, according to the anti-graft commission.
The chairperson of Krish Hotels, Janaki Siriwardena, was arrested last Thursday and remanded until October 6 for allegedly bribing Rajapaksa.
The CIABOC has told the court that she allegedly bribed him on several occasions to obtain key approvals for the project.
Rajapaksa, an international rugby player, was questioned in 2016, and a case was filed against him over alleged misuse of funds from the Krish project for rugby promotion.
He has been in remand since September 4 in connection with a USD 2 million (around Rs. 19 crore) bribe in the purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines in 2013.
A second remand order was issued a week after the September 4 order in a separate money laundering case linked to the same Airbus deal.
He has been denied bail once in each of the two cases.
Rajapaksa’s party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), has accused the government of politically victimising him through the cases and his continued remand.
His arrest is the first remand of a member of the former first family since the National People’s Power (NPP) government came to power two years ago.
The government has maintained that action against opposition politicians is in line with its 2024 election pledge to clean public life and eradicate corruption.
Rajapaksa’s siblings have also faced allegations of wrongdoing, which the family has described as politically motivated. His cousin Shashindra Rajapaksa is currently out on bail after being remanded earlier this year. (PTI)
