The former Mayor of the Bandarawela Municipal Council, Janaka Nishantha Ratnayake, has been arrested in connection with an investigation into alleged financial fraud and the forgery of documents at the council.
The arrest was made on Wednesday night by officers of the Bandarawela Special Crime Investigation Unit, both the Daily Mirror and Hiru News reported.
The arrest follows earlier ones further down the council
Police said the former mayor was detained after investigations and questioning involving two revenue inspectors and several clerical employees of the municipal council. Those employees were arrested several months ago in connection with the same case and remain in remand custody.
Ratnayake was being questioned by Special Crime Investigation Unit officers and was due to be produced before the Bandarawela Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Hiru places the court appearance in the afternoon; the Daily Mirror gives only the day.
Update (September 10, evening): remanded until September 16
The Bandarawela Magistrate’s Court ordered Ratnayake remanded until 16 September, Hiru News reported after the afternoon appearance.
The later report restates the allegation as the preparation of forged documents connected to a financial fraud at the municipal council, and puts the number of council employees previously arrested in the same matter at three.
That figure sits awkwardly with the morning reports, which described two revenue inspectors plus “several” clerical employees — a total that would exceed three. Whether three is the full count of prior arrests or only of one category is not clarified by any outlet.
What the reports still do not state
No outlet puts a value on the alleged fraud, describes what the forged documents were, or says over what period the alleged offences took place. None names the charges Ratnayake faces, or reconciles the count of employees arrested before him.
The reports also do not say when Ratnayake left office, or whether the alleged conduct falls within his mayoral term.
Context
The case adds to a run of local-government prosecutions across the country. A Kurunegala deputy mayor was arrested over a Rs. 3 million bribe in May, and a former Akkaraipattu mayor was remanded in August in an unrelated matter.
Bandarawela sits in the Badulla district, where former parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri was sentenced by the Badulla High Court in July before being granted bail pending appeal.
Sourcing note
Two verified newsrooms carry this story and their accounts reconcile. Ada Derana also filed a report on the arrest, but its domain returned a CloudFront 403 on every request throughout this cycle — the twelfth consecutive cycle it has been unreachable — so its account could not be read or cited.
