MP Ravi Karunanayake was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on Monday after several hours of questioning, and was later produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.

The former finance minister had gone to the commission that morning to give a statement in an investigation into recruitments at the National Lotteries Board, ending a standoff over four summonses he had not answered. Officers recorded his statement and then placed him under arrest, NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror reported.

Ada Derana reported roughly two hours later that he had been produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. No other outlet had carried the court appearance at the time of writing, and none reported what the court ordered.

Outlets still differ on how many recruits are involved

The investigation concerns employees taken on at the National Lotteries Board and then, investigators allege, used for political work at a loss to the government. The number of people involved is still not settled between newsrooms.

NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror both put it at five, recruited on contract outside approved procedure and attached to Karunanayake’s personal staff. Ada Derana put it at three, recruited for a special project of the board and deployed for political activities.

The Daily Mirror’s own account has moved. In its report on the morning appearance it gave the figure as three; in its arrest report hours later it gave five, in wording close to NewsFirst’s. It did not note the change. Ada Derana has stayed with three throughout.

The outlets also disagree on when he arrived. Ada Derana reported earlier in the day that he reached the commission shortly after 9 a.m.; NewsFirst and the Daily Mirror both put it at about 8.15 a.m. NewsFirst’s own morning report gave no time.

What led to the arrest

Karunanayake had been summoned four times without appearing. Commission officers went to his Rajamalwatta Road residence in Battaramulla on Saturday and did not find him there — NewsFirst described this as a search, the Daily Mirror as a visit, and neither reported a warrant. His lawyers then asked for another date, citing arrangements for his daughter’s wedding, and Monday’s appearance followed that request.

A former chairperson of the National Lotteries Board was arrested in the same investigation and released on bail on June 30 on two sureties of Rs. 1 million each. NewsFirst spells the name Shyamila Perera; earlier reporting in this archive has it as Sharmila Perera.

What remains unreported

No outlet has reported the charges on which Karunanayake was arrested, the legal basis for the arrest, or the outcome of the court appearance. None carried a comment from him or his lawyers. Hiru News reported the arrest in two sentences and gave no detail of the investigation.

Karunanayake features in other matters before investigators and the courts, including the treasury bond case involving him and former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran, whose extradition remains blocked. LankaNewz has not established any link between those matters and the National Lotteries Board investigation, and no outlet connected them.

Sources