A National People’s Power member of the Kegalle Municipal Council has been remanded until 9 September over an alleged Rs. 26 million fraud involving a cabana project that was never built.
Kandy Magistrate Nalaka Weerasinghe made the order on Tuesday, Hiru News reported.
The suspect and the arrest
The councillor was named as Kasun Madusankha Bandara, 34, a resident of Kegalle who represents the Olagama ward of the Kegalle Municipal Council.
He was arrested by the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau at about 10:25 a.m. on Tuesday at a hotel in the Yattogoda area of Kegalle, and produced before the Kandy Magistrate’s Court that afternoon.
The complaint
The case began with a complaint to the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau by Ramesh Thilan, a businessman living in Kandy.
According to the complaint, the councillor took Rs. 26 million on the understanding that he would develop a cabana project on land belonging to the complainant at Minuwangamuwa, along the Kegalle–Divela road. The project was never built, and the money is alleged to have been misappropriated.
The complainant first went to Kegalle police, who filed a B-report before the Kegalle Magistrate’s Court. The matter was later transferred to the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau, which reported the facts to the Kandy Magistrate’s Court, also by B-report.
Having considered the submissions, the magistrate remanded the suspect until 9 September and postponed the case to that date.
What has not been reported
Hiru did not say whether the councillor has been charged with a specific offence or only detained pending investigation, whether he entered any plea or denial, whether bail was sought and refused, or whether the National People’s Party has taken any disciplinary step. It gave no date for when the money is alleged to have changed hands.
Hiru was the only verified newsroom carrying the case at the time of writing.
Context
Unbuilt cabana developments have produced court cases before. In May, former Mahason Balakaya leader Amith Weerasinghe was arrested over an alleged fraud involving cabanas that were never constructed at Pallekele and Ella — a separate matter, with no reported connection to this one.
The governing party has also had earlier trouble at council level: an NPP councillor in Kurunegala resigned in May, and the city’s deputy mayor was arrested the following day over a Rs. 3 million bribe.
