Sri Lanka's anti-corruption watchdog has taken Namal Rajapaksa, the elder son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, into custody over allegations tied to the purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines.
The 40-year-old was summoned by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Friday. After more than five hours of questioning, the commission placed him under arrest. He was then produced before Magistrate Asanga S. Boderagama, and a Colombo court remanded him in custody until September 18.
Accused of profiting $800,000 from the Airbus deal
Rajapaksa, a leader of the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), was questioned on the basis of information that he had personally benefited to the tune of $800,000 from the purchase of wide-body Airbus jets for SriLankan Airlines during his father's presidency. Investigators found that commissions from the deal had been deposited into several bank accounts at the time. This marks the first time any member of the Rajapaksa family has been remanded since the current National People's Power government took office two years ago. Earlier this year, his cousin Shashendra Rajapaksa was also remanded in a separate case and is currently out on bail.
Arrest comes days before a planned rally
The timing has drawn attention because Namal Rajapaksa had recently announced plans to hold a large anti-government rally on September 12 in the north-central city of Anuradhapura. The SLPP has alleged that his arrest and remand are a calculated move by the government to derail that rally and blunt his broader campaign against the administration. His siblings, too, have faced a string of allegations over the years, all of which they describe as politically motivated.
Follows the arrest of Johnston Fernando
Friday's arrest and remand came shortly after CIABOC arrested Johnston Fernando, who served as a cabinet minister in Rajapaksa-led governments between 2005 and 2023. Fernando was accused of misusing public funds to arrange seating at a conference hall named after Mahinda Rajapaksa in the central district of Kandy. Together, the two cases are being read as a sign of intensified anti-corruption action in Sri Lanka, even as the Rajapaksa family and the SLPP maintain that they are being politically targeted.
