Former Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna parliamentarian Janaka Tissa Kuttiarachchi arrived before police investigators on Wednesday morning to record a statement in connection with an ongoing inquiry.
He reached the premises at around 10 a.m., NewsFirst reported, citing police. He had been summoned in connection with an investigation already under way. The former MP had not left the premises by the time NewsFirst filed its report early on Wednesday afternoon.
Neither outlet reports what the inquiry concerns, what period it covers, or whether Kuttiarachchi has been named a suspect in any case. He is not reported to have been arrested.
Which unit summoned him
The two newsrooms name the investigating body differently. NewsFirst identifies it as the Police Illegal Assets Investigation Unit. Hiru News reports that he arrived at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) — though its own article address refers to the illegal assets division.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division operates within the police financial crimes structure, and the two descriptions are not necessarily in conflict. The distinction matters for what the inquiry is likely to cover: an illegal assets investigation typically examines whether property or wealth is disproportionate to declared income, rather than a specific transaction.
Neither account resolves the point, and no police spokesman is quoted on it.
Who he is
Kuttiarachchi served as an SLPP member of parliament and was among the party’s more vocal backbenchers in the last parliament. He is not a member of the current House.
In July 2025 he tendered an unconditional apology before the Colombo District Court to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake over remarks he had made at a 2023 SLPP rally alleging that Dissanayake held funds in Malta. The President had sought damages; the case was settled after the apology. That matter is unconnected to the present inquiry, and neither outlet links them.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division has been active through 2026, having frozen assets in a series of organised crime and narcotics cases. This is the first reported instance this year of a former parliamentarian being summoned before it.
Not reported
Neither newsroom states the subject of the investigation, whether any assets have been identified or frozen, whether Kuttiarachchi was summoned previously, or whether further sittings are expected. No statement from Kuttiarachchi or his lawyers is recorded in either account. The spelling of his name differs between outlets — NewsFirst renders it “Janaka Tissakuttiarachchi” in its headline and “Janaka Tissa Kuttiarachchi” in its text; Hiru uses “Tissa Kuttiarachchi”.
Update (September 16): he left after about six hours
Kuttiarachchi left the premises of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division after giving a statement for close to six hours, Hiru News reported later on Wednesday.
That answers the question left hanging when NewsFirst filed at midday — he had not then left — and establishes two things. He was not arrested or detained at the end of the session. And a statement running roughly six hours is substantially longer than a routine one, which suggests investigators were working through documentary material rather than taking a short account.
Hiru’s follow-up uses Illegal Assets Investigation Division rather than the FCID of its own earlier report, aligning with NewsFirst’s naming and with its own article address. The description of the unit in the first report appears to have been the loose one.
Beyond the duration, the report adds nothing. It still does not say what the investigation concerns, whether Kuttiarachchi has been named a suspect, whether any assets have been identified, or whether he has been asked to return. No statement from him or his lawyers is recorded, and no police officer is quoted.
