The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested two former senior state officials within hours of each other on Friday, in separate cases centred on public procurement and state recruitment.
Lanka Mineral Sands: Rs. 34.4 million in casual wages
CIABOC officers arrested Udeni Jayaratne Dassanayake, former Chairman of Lanka Mineral Sands Limited, at about 9.25 a.m., the Daily Mirror reported.
The commission alleges he bypassed established recruitment procedures and exceeded the approved staff cadre when taking on casual employees at the state-owned company during 2023 and 2024. Wage payments to those workers came to Rs. 34,438,650.42 — a figure NewsFirst reports CIABOC treats as the loss caused to the company. The commission says arranging those salary payments conferred an unlawful advantage on the individuals recruited.
Buddhasasana Ministry: three book-printing contracts
Later the same day, CIABOC arrested Muthubandage Kamal Bandara Dissanayake, former Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, over government book-printing contracts.
According to the commission, he bypassed government procurement procedure on three separate occasions to award printing contracts for a book titled “Dahami Niwahanai Apekama Radhi Heta Dinayai” to a preferred entity. The three contracts were worth Rs. 4.79 million in total.
CIABOC alleges payments covering the full contract value were authorised without confirming that the printed books had been delivered to, or properly accounted for at, the ministry warehouse — causing a loss to the state while providing an unlawful benefit to the contractor.
A third arrest: alleged bribe inside the court system
Separately, CIABOC arrested Chinari Lakmanthi Hettiarachchi, wife of former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena, over an alleged attempt to influence court proceedings against her husband.
The commission alleges she offered a Rs. 50,000 bribe to an office assistant attached to Colombo High Court No. 11, seeking to sway the case being heard against the former deputy minister and to secure a suspended prison sentence.
All three suspects were due to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. None of the allegations has been tested in court, and no charges have yet been filed.
