Three suspects in the bribery case surrounding former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena — including his wife — were further remanded until 20 October by the Colombo Chief Magistrate on Tuesday, after the Bribery Commission set out what it says it recovered from their phones.
The three are Chinari Lakmanthi Hettiarachchi, Gunawardena’s wife; a Colombo High Court office assistant named Charith; and the Registrar of the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court, Hiru News reported. Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama made the order after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) produced them in court, the Daily Mirror reported.
The allegation
CIABOC told the court that charges were filed against the second suspect over an attempt to give Rs. 50,000 to a court office assistant, with the aim of securing a suspended sentence from the judge in the case then pending against Gunawardena at Colombo High Court No. 11.
What investigators say they found
The evidentiary detail given in court on Tuesday goes beyond anything previously reported in this case. Investigating officers said that an examination of the mobile phone found on the first suspect at the time of arrest revealed a series of WhatsApp exchanges, and that information and invoices relating to monetary transactions were among them.
They further told the court that certain messages relating to the incident had been deleted, and that the suspects exchanged messages using a coding system.
Bail refused
Lawyers for the three applied for bail. The magistrate held that the grounds submitted did not amount to exceptional circumstances and ordered all three remanded until 20 October.
Where this sits in the case
The hearing answers a question left open when LankaNewz reported the registrar’s arrest on 2 October: neither outlet then said whether he had been produced before a court. He has now been, alongside the two suspects arrested earlier — Hettiarachchi having been remanded in late September over the alleged Rs. 50,000 payment.
The underlying conviction is unaffected. Gunawardena was sentenced in June to an effective 16 years’ rigorous imprisonment in four corruption cases concerning vehicle rental procurement during his time heading the Development Lotteries Board in 2006.
Not reported
The Minuwangoda Registrar is still not named in any filing. Neither outlet says which of the three is the “first suspect” whose phone was examined or which is the “second suspect” charged over the Rs. 50,000, so the roles cannot be matched to individuals from the reporting. No filing says whether the deleted messages were recovered, what the invoices show, how many messages were involved, or whether charges have yet been filed against the first and third suspects. There is no indication of when the investigation is expected to conclude, and no comment from counsel for the suspects beyond the bail application.
A note on terminology: the Daily Mirror renders the judicial office as “Colombo Chief Magistrate” and Hiru as “Colombo Principal Magistrate”. Both refer to Asanga S. Bodaragama in the same hearing. Hiru’s own headline slug reads “wife and three others”, while its report describes three suspects in total; the body figure of three is used here.
