Court extends remand custody of Rishad Bathiudeen

By Asiri Fernando

The Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday further remanded All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader, Parliamentarian Rishad Bathiudeen, until Friday (13 November). 

The Parliamentarian was remanded on 20 October following his arrest by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) at a residence at Ebenezer Place in Dehiwala. The CID also obtained a travel ban against the former Minister on advice from the Attorney General prior to his arrest.

The other suspects who were remanded along with Bathiudeen on related charges and others arrested on charges of aiding and abetting a wanted person were also remanded till the 13th by the Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday. 

The former Minister of Industry and Commerce and two others was arrested over allegations of violating Article 82(1) of Presidential Elections Act No. 15 of 1981 by misappropriating public funds, in relation to an incident during the 2019 Presidential Elections, where Bathiudeen had allegedly facilitated transportation for a group of displaced persons to be transported to a polling booth. The former Minister and the members of the Opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), have called the arrest a political witch-hunt.