COLOMBO: A former Sri Lankan government minister surrendered to court on Friday after evading authorities for two months.
This detention represents the latest high-profile arrest in the country’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign.
Anti-graft units have significantly intensified investigations since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed power in September with a mandate to combat corruption.
Former fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne, who served in ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet, faces accusations of illegally awarding a 2012 contract to a foreign company.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption stated this contract allegedly caused an $83,000 loss to state funds.
“Senaratne had repeatedly dodged questioning,“ the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption said.
High Court judge Lanka Jayaratne ordered his transfer to a lower court to address multiple pending cases.
Numerous politicians from the Rajapaksa administration, along with their family members, currently remain either incarcerated or released on bail during ongoing corruption investigations.
Former president Ranil Wickremesinghe faced arrest last week for allegedly misusing $55,000 in government funds during a private stopover in Britain.
“Wickremesinghe, 76, who was granted bail on Tuesday, insisted the stopover was part of his official duties,“ according to official statements.
President Dissanayake’s administration has already secured 25-year corruption sentences for two former senior ministers.
The national police chief faced impeachment following accusations of operating a criminal network that supported politicians.
Simultaneously, the prisons chief received a jail sentence for corruption-related offenses.
The head of immigration remains in detention on contempt of court charges after being arrested just before Dissanayake assumed power. – AFP