Top officials arrested for bribery remanded till 22 May

Two top Government officials arrested last week for accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 million from an Indian businessman have been remanded until 22 May by the Colombo Chief Magistrate.

When the case was called before the Colombo Additional Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala yesterday, the Magistrate ordered to re-remand the Chief of Presidential Staff I. H. K. Mahanama and former Chairman of State Timber Corporation Piyasena Dissanayake.

The Magistrate also ordered the Bribery Commission to expeditiously complete the investigation into the case against the suspects.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption arrested the two top Government officials in the act of accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 million.

The attorney appearing on behalf of the Bribery Commission informed the Court that an individual named Joseph, who claimed to be a member of the intelligence wing of the LTTE, had come to the office of the plaintiff K. P. Nagarajah, an Indian national, and inquired about the case.

The attorney of the Bribery Commission stated that this could be an effort to influence the investigations, and the plaintiff had complained to the Cinnamon Garden police as well as to the Bribery Commission. 

The lawyers appearing for the defence informed the court that the bail applications could be considered as most of the investigations have been completed. 

However, the Colombo Additional Magistrate stated that the Bribery Commission has informed that a number of documents needed for the investigations are still at the places where the suspects worked, and that even though the requests have been made, they have not been received so far. The magistrate further stated that if the suspects were given bail, the investigations could be disrupted. However, the magistrate informed the Bribery Commission to take immediate steps to complete the investigations.