Namal Rajapaksa allowed food from home while in remand custody

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa has been permitted to receive food brought from his home while in remand custody.

He is being held over an alleged Rs. 100 million bribe linked to the SriLankan Airlines Airbus investigation.

Prisons Media Spokesman Senaka Palletenna said a special security arrangement has also been implemented around the ward where Rajapaksa is being held at the Colombo Remand Prison.

The Department of Prisons said three people per day are permitted to visit him.

Rajapaksa was remanded until September 18, 2026, after being produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on September 4, 2026.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama issued the remand order after considering submissions made by Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara, appearing on behalf of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), and lawyers representing Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa had arrived at CIABOC on the morning of September 4 following a summons directing him to appear at 9:00 AM to provide a statement in connection with an investigation into alleged bribes linked to the acquisition of a wide-body Airbus aircraft fleet for SriLankan Airlines.

He was arrested by CIABOC investigating officers at around 2:09 PM after providing statements for nearly five hours.

According to the allegations, EUR 1,454,651.24 in alleged bribe money had been received into an account named BIZ Solutions INC at Standard Chartered Bank.

Of that amount, USD 800,000 was allegedly transferred to an account maintained at OCBC Bank in Singapore under the name of Sabre Vision Holdings LTD, a company owned by a Sri Lankan businessman.

It is further alleged that, in return for an amount equivalent to the USD 800,000, Rajapaksa received Rs. 100 million in cash as a bribe from the businessman on several occasions during 2014 and 2015.

CIABOC has said the investigation is based on a statement provided by the businessman, statements given to the Commission by Airbus officials in France, and documents and other information gathered in relation to the matter.