Sri Lankan court remands Namal Rajapaksa in fresh Krish Hotels corruption case
A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday remanded opposition leader Namal Rajapaksa until October 13 in a fresh corruption case linked to the Krish Hotels investment project involving an Indian company. This is the third remand order against him since his arrest on September 4 in a separate 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 over an allegation that he accepted LKR 7 crore, or around Rs 2 crore, from the local agent of the project. The anti-graft commission said the alleged payment was linked to approvals for the investment.
In the same case, Krish Hotels chairperson Janaki Siriwardena was arrested last Thursday and remanded until October 6 for allegedly bribing Rajapaksa. The commission told the court that she had allegedly bribed him on several occasions to obtain key approvals for the project.
Rajapaksa, who is also an international rugby player, had been questioned in 2016 and a case was filed against him over the alleged misuse of funds from the Krish project for rugby promotion.
He has already been in remand since September 4 in connection with an alleged USD 2 million, or around Rs 19 crore, bribe in the 2013 purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines. A second remand order was issued a week later 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, 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 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.
Members of the Rajapaksa family 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. With Tuesday's order, Namal Rajapaksa remains in custody in three separate cases, including the latest one linked to the Krish Hotels project.
