MP Sajin remanded till 20 May over abuse of state vehicles

Former Foreign Ministry Monitoring MP Sajin Vass Gunawardana was arrested and remanded until 20 May for abusing state vehicles.

He was remanded by the Colombo Chief Magistrate after being produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following extensive questioning earlier in the day.

The charges against him included the misuse of vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat. A court case filed by the Bribery Commission against Gunawardena is already underway.

The police said that the Opposition Parliamentarian was arrested after he was questioned by the CID yesterday over the allegations levelled against him. He was summoned to the CID to give a statement last morning.

Following the defeat of former President Rajapaksa at the 2015 presidential election, Gunawardena was faced with several inquires. In February the CID also questioned Gunawardena in connection with the corruption charges levelled against him by members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

A few weeks after the presidential election, 53 vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat were found by the police abandoned at a yard in Colombo. Recently the police also announced that they did not know the whereabouts of over 120 vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat Office.