The Colombo Chief Magistrate on Thursday (24) permitted the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to record a statement from remand prisoner Namal Rajapaksa over an alleged Rs. 70 million bribe linked to the Krrish Transworks project.
Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama issued the order when former Krrish local director Geethanjali Janaki de Soysa Siriwardena was produced in court following her arrest by CIABOC.
CIABOC Assistant Director Attorney-at-Law Ama Wijesinghe told the court that the investigation began after a complaint received in 2023. She alleged that Siriwardena and two Indian directors of the company, Amit Katyal and Rajendra Prasad, had paid Rajapaksa Rs. 70 million through Nimal Hemasiri Perera to secure the prompt transfer of Urban Development Authority land to Krrish Transworks and obtain the necessary approvals.
The payments were allegedly made in three instalments in October, November and December 2012: Rs. 40 million, Rs. 10 million and Rs. 20 million. Wijesinghe said bank records and documents had revealed the transactions.
CIABOC told the court that its investigation into the alleged giving and receiving of a bribe was separate from the High Court case in which Rajapaksa has been indicted over the alleged criminal breach of trust involving funds obtained to promote rugby.
Seeking bail for Siriwardena, Attorney-at-Law Amila Dissanayake argued that she was a witness in the High Court case and that pursuing a bribery case arising from the same events was unfair.
The Magistrate rejected the bail application, saying her status as a witness in another case could not be taken into account and that she had not adequately assisted this investigation. Siriwardena was remanded until 6 October.
The Magistrate also directed CIABOC to present evidence on 2 October in support of its request for warrants against Katyal and Prasad, who, the commission said, had not cooperated with the investigation.
