Sri Lanka Pursues Interpol Action Against Basil Rajapaksa

COLOMBO (News 1st); Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena on Wednesday (14) ordered the Criminal Investigation Department's Illegal Assets Investigation Unit to arrest former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and produce him before court in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds.

The Magistrate also directed that warrants be issued in both Sinhala and English to facilitate the process of obtaining Interpol Red Notices in relation to the suspect.

The orders were issued following submissions made by the Criminal Investigation Department regarding an ongoing investigation into the alleged misuse of funds belonging to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

Investigators informed court that the case relates to Rs. 7.8 million that had been allocated to the Tourism Promotion Bureau in 2014.

According to the CID, the funds were allegedly not utilized for the bureau's tourism promotion activities. Instead, it was alleged that the money was used to procure 12,000 T-shirts for the Uva Provincial Council election campaign, resulting in a financial loss to the government.

The CID's Illegal Assets Investigation Unit had previously reported the matter to court as part of its investigations into the alleged misuse of state funds.

After considering the submissions made by investigators, the Colombo Fort Magistrate ordered the arrest of Basil Rajapaksa and instructed the CID to produce him before court while taking further steps through Interpol to locate and apprehend the suspect.