Namal Rajapaksa questioned in prison over Rs 70 million Krish bribe

Sri Lankan opposition leader Namal Rajapaksa was questioned on Saturday by the country’s anti-corruption commission in an alleged bribery case while he remained in remand prison. Investigators questioned him over claims that he accepted a bribe of Sri Lankan Rupees 70 million from the local agent of Krish Hotels, an Indian investment project.

The 40-year-old MP, who belongs to the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), has been in remand since September 4 in connection with separate charges linked to the 2013 purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines. A second remand order was issued a week later in the same case on money laundering charges, and he has been denied bail once in each case.

Rajapaksa, the elder son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was questioned by investigators of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption at the Colombo remand prison, where he is currently lodged. In the Krish Hotels case, the commission has alleged that he accepted money from the project’s local agent.

Krish Hotels chairperson Janaki Siriwardena was arrested last Thursday and remanded till October 6 for allegedly bribing Rajapaksa. The anti-corruption commission told the court that Siriwardena had bribed him on several occasions to secure key approvals for the project.

Rajapaksa was also questioned in 2016 and a case was filed against him for allegedly misusing funds from the Krish project for rugby promotion. He had been an international rugby player. His arrest is the first remand of a member of the former first family since the People’s Power government came to power two years ago. The government has said action against opposition politicians is in line with its 2024 election pledge to clean public life and eradicate corruption, while the SLPP has accused the government of politically victimising Rajapaksa through the case and his continued remand.

The questioning on Saturday added a fresh bribery allegation to the legal cases already faced by Rajapaksa, as the government and the opposition continued to differ sharply over the action taken against him.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends