Former minister and Badulla District MP Chamara Sampath Dasanayake and his former secretary were ordered to remain in remand custody until November 6 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama directed that both suspects be further remanded while investigations continue, NewsFirst reported. It is the same court and the same magistrate that refused bail to MP Namal Rajapaksa in the Krrish case on the same day, and both men were produced from remand in the same sitting.
The allegation
The two were arrested over the issuance of phosphate import licences during Dasanayake’s tenure as State Minister of Primary Industries. NewsFirst reports the allegation is that between September 8, 2022 and September 23, 2024 he accepted a bribe of Rs. 8.4 million in connection with granting licences to three companies to import phosphate without following the proper approval procedure.
How many cases
The two filings do not agree on the scope of the detention. NewsFirst frames the remand around the phosphate licence allegation alone. Hiru News, reporting the same court appearance in Sinhala, describes Dasanayake as being held in remand in connection with five cases.
Neither filing resolves the difference, and this desk has not been able to establish which other matters the remaining cases cover. Dasanayake was questioned by the Bribery Commission in early October and arrested days later; a separate allegation about liquor sticker tender criteria has been raised in Parliament but has not been linked to his detention in any filing seen here.
Not reported
Neither outlet names the former secretary, states whether bail was sought at Friday’s sitting, or reports what the defence said.