Former State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias ‘Pillayan’, has been remanded by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate’s Court pending the Attorney General’s recommendations in connection with investigations into the disappearance of a Vice Chancellor in the Eastern Province in 2006.

He was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on April 8, 2025 in Batticaloa, in connection with an investigation being conducted by the CID in relation to an incident of the disappearance of a university vice chancellor in the Eastern Province in 2006.

The CID later obtained a 90-day detention order on the former Eastern Province chief minister for further questioning.

Meanwhile, on May 15, Pillayan had filed a Fundamental Rights petition before the Supreme Court through his legal counsel seeking an order declaring that his arrest and detention by the CID for the purpose of questioning constitutes a violation of his Fundamental Rights.

He is seeking a ruling that the CID’s decision to arrest and detain him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), in connection with the abduction and disappearance of the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, violates his fundamental human rights.

The respondents named in the petition include the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Special Investigation Unit of the CID, the Director of the CID, IGP Priyantha Weerasuriya, the Minister of Defence and the Attorney General.