Colombo, Sep 26 (PTI) Sri Lankan opposition leader Namal Rajapaksa was on Saturday questioned in prison by the island nation’s anti-graft commission in an alleged case of bribery.
Namal, 40, was questioned for allegedly accepting a bribe of Sri Lankan Rupees 70 million from the local agent of an Indian investment project, Krish Hotels.
The elder son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was questioned by investigators of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) at the Colombo remand prison, where he is currently lodged.
He has been in remand since September 4 to face charges of accepting a USD 2 million bribe in the 2013 purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines. A second remand order was placed on him a week later for money laundering in the same Airbus case. He has been denied bail once in each case.
Chairperson of the Krish Hotels, Janaki Siriwardena, was arrested last Thursday and remanded till October 6 for allegedly bribing Namal.
The CIABOC told the court that Siriwardena had on several occasions bribed Namal to gain key approvals for the project.
Namal, a member of the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party in Parliament, was questioned in 2016 and a case was filed against him for 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 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 the NPP government’s 2024 election pledge to clean public life and eradicate corruption.
The opposition SLPP has accused the government of politically victimising Namal through the case and his continued remand. PTI CORR GRS
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