Former private secretary to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, political activist Sugeeshwara Bandara, has been remanded until July 01 by order of the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.
He was arrested earlier this morning (18) in connection with an ongoing investigation into allegations that he had drawn salaries from two government institutions and thereby misappropriated state funds.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry had forwarded a complaint to the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) regarding an alleged financial irregularly under the President’s Expenditure Head.
Subsequent investigations have revealed that Bandara had served as a private secretary to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022, while also then holding the position of Project Director at the Presidential Secretariat during the same period.
Based on these findings, he was arrested in the Kollupitiya area today (18) on charges of receiving salaries for two positions at the same time under the President’s Expenditure Head.
The Police Media Division also stated that further investigations are underway into allegations of misuse of government vehicles and the use of state employees for political activities while the suspect was holding the relevant positions.
