Rajapaksa party chief freed on bail; travel ban imposed over IGP death threat case
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam was granted bail by the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court on Monday (10), hours after his arrest over an alleged death threat against Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya. The court also imposed a foreign travel ban on him.
Kariyawasam, an attorney-at-law, was arrested earlier in the day by officers of the Central Criminal Investigation Bureau (CCIB) after appearing to record a statement over remarks he allegedly made about the IGP at a press conference last week. Police said Weerasooriya had considered the remarks a death threat, prompting an investigation carried out on the IGP’s instructions.
He was subsequently produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court on allegations of making death threats against the IGP and making statements intended to bring President Anura Kumara Dissanayake into public disrepute.
Kariyawasam, a prominent figure in the party led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been a vocal critic of the government. His arrest comes amid an intensified crackdown on alleged corruption and other offences under President Dissanayake’s administration, which took office in September 2024.
Rajapaksa himself faces allegations that he received kickbacks from Airbus over an aircraft purchase deal that was later scrapped. The 80-year-old former president’s three children, wife, two brothers and several nephews and nieces face charges of money laundering and misappropriation of state funds.
-ENCL
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