The two members of the Kandy Municipal Council, who were arrested for soliciting a bribe of Rs 150,000 to expedite work on the fixing of a digital billboard, have been remanded until January 19 by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. 

When the case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Mohamed Mihar today (08), the attorney representing the defendants presented a bail application to the court.

They also informed the court that prison officials had escorted both accused to the court from prison despite the prevailing risks of Covis-19 virus spreading.

The magistrate expressed his surprise over this development and said that during the past 3 months suspects were not produced before this court even for identification parades and questioned the prison officers as to who ordered the suspects to be produced at court.

Subsequently the magistrate ordered the suspects to be remanded until January 19 and decided to consider the bail application on that date. 

On a complaint received from a resident of the Kandy area, the investigation officers of the Bribery Commission had arrested two members of the Kandy Municipal Council on January 05 at the car park of a private hospital for allegedly receiving of a bribe of Rs. 150, 000.

The Bribery Commission says that the complainant has received the approval of the Municipal Council to fix a digital sign board near the Katugastota Bridge. 

The two suspects have solicited the bribe of Rs. 150,000 from the complainant to expedite the rest of the administrative work through the officers of the Municipal Council with regard to the fixing of the digital sign board. 

The arrests were reportedly made while the two council members, Keerthi Bandara Ratnayake and M.P. Wigneshwaram, were accepting the bribe.