Colombo, Sep 7 (PTI) Namal Rajapaksa, the elder son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, is being kept under regular prison routines with some special arrangements after he was remanded last week, a prison official said on Monday.
Prison spokesman Senaka Pallewatta said security around Rajapaksa’s cell at the Colombo Remand Prison had been strengthened, while his request for home-cooked food had been granted. He is also allowed three visitors a day.
Rajapaksa, 40, was arrested on September 4 by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and was remanded till September 18 by a Colombo magistrate.
He was questioned for more than five hours on Friday before being arrested over an alleged USD 800,000 corruption case linked to the purchase of wide-bodied Airbus aircrafts for SriLankan Airlines during his father’s presidency.
Rajapaksa, who leads the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in Parliament, was visited by his father on Saturday and his mother Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Monday.
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 SLPP has sought permission for Rajapaksa to attend Parliament, with Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunathilleka asking Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne to direct prison authorities to escort Rajapaksa to the legislature as the House is scheduled to meet for four days starting Tuesday.
The SLPP has alleged that the case against Rajapaksa is politically motivated and linked his remand with the party’s plans to hold a major anti-government rally in Anuradhapura on September 12.
The party has claimed that the government is seeking to disrupt the rally and weaken the opposition’s campaign.
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 CORR FHK FHK
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