Udayanga Weeratunga remanded till 17 Feb.

• Weeratunga faces money laundering and misappropriation charges over 2006 MiG deal 
• CID officers arrested and questioned him at length before producing in Court
• SL has sought his extradition from Dubai since 2018

By Chandani Kirinde

As exclusively reported by Daily FT, Sri Lanka’s onetime Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, who was arrested by the CID upon his arrival in Colombo last morning, was remanded till Monday by Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake.

Weeratunga, who has been a fugitive defying both an Interpol Red Notice and an arrest warrant from the Magistrate’s Court over charges of money laundering and misappropriation over his involvement in the 2006 purchase of four MiG 27 aircraft for the Air Force, arrived in the country last morning. 

He was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by CID officials and taken to its headquarters, where he was questioned at length.

Weeratunga has been in hiding in the UAE since 2018 and a case was filed in a court there, seeking his extradition to Sri Lanka to face money laundering and misappropriation charges. A case against Weeratunga is pending in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court and a warrant for his arrest was issued in 20 October 2016.

Interpol had also issued a Red Notice on Weeratunga, but he has remained a fugitive from justice, failing to appear in court despite a court order to do so overseas.