Ex-Health Minister Keheliya arrives at CID

Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella arrived at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) premises on Friday morning (Feb.02) in compliance with a court order issued on Thursday.

The former health minister was supposed to make an appearance before the CID on Wednesday (Jan.31), but he failed to do so on account of attending the proceedings of a case heard before the Colombo High Court, as well as a ministerial sub-committee meeting convened at the Presidential Secretariat.

Thus, Rambukwella had sought the CID, in writing, to fix another date for him to provide his statement.

On Thursday (Feb.01), the Maligakanda Magistrate ordered the former health minister to appear before the CID to record a statement pertaining to his alleged involvement in the substandard medicines procurement. Additionally, the lawmaker was also slapped with a foreign travel ban.

Meanwhile, a group of civil society activists engaged in a ‘Satyagraha’ campaign in front of the CID premises on Wednesday demanding the immediate arrest of Rambukwella. Ten activists who were taken into police custody during the ‘Satyagraha’ campaign were later granted bail on the orders of the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.

Against this backdrop, the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Health Dr. Saman Ratnakaye was grilled by the CID officers for nearly 10 hours on Wednesday over the procurement of substandard medicines.