The Bribery Commission has arrested the former head of the National Youth Services Council, Attorney-at-Law Lalith Piyum Perera, over a land transaction in Ampara that it says cost the state Rs 5.1 million. He was granted bail the same day on two bonds of Rs 1 million each, and barred from leaving the country.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested him on Wednesday, the Daily Mirror reported at 4.05 p.m. Colombo time. Hiru News reported the bail order an hour later.
The bail terms
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama ordered Perera released on two body bonds of Rs 1 million each. The court also issued a foreign travel ban against him, and ordered him not to influence witnesses in the case.
What the commission alleges
Appearing for CIABOC, Assistant Director (Legal) Anusha Sambandapperuma told the court that a loss had been caused to the state over a sublease payment connected to land in Ampara. Her submission, as Hiru reports it, sets out two components:
- A plot of land and a building on it at Sapura village in the Ampara district were represented as state land. Sublease agreements were drawn up and the property taken on lease by the National Youth Services Council, and Rs 3.8 million of council money was paid improperly and unlawfully to a third party for it.
- A further Rs 1.3 million of council money was improperly arranged to be paid for repairs to that building, without formal approval of the board of directors.
Together these are put at a loss to the state of Rs 5,100,000. The commission objected to bail on that basis.
The two itemised figures sum exactly to the stated total — Rs 3.8 million plus Rs 1.3 million is Rs 5.1 million — and that total is consistent with the commission’s separate description of a loss “exceeding Rs 5 million”.
President’s Counsel Kalinga Indatissa appeared for Perera and asked the court to release his client on bail.
The two outlets differ on which post he held
The Daily Mirror describes him as the former Director General of the National Youth Services Council. Hiru describes him as the council’s former Chairman, and Hiru’s own URL carries the same word.
These are different offices. The Daily Mirror’s single-sentence filing and Hiru’s fuller court report are otherwise consistent on the name, the arresting body and the allegation, and neither outlet notes the other’s description. This desk records the discrepancy rather than choosing between them, and the headline above uses the neutral formulation the Daily Mirror’s own headline uses — “Youth Services chief”.
Both outlets agree he is an Attorney-at-Law.
Not reported
Neither filing says when the transaction took place, during whose tenure, or when Perera held the post. Neither names the third party that received the Rs 3.8 million, nor says whether that party is also under investigation.
Neither says what charges, if any, will be filed, what the next court date is, or whether the land and building remain in the council’s possession. Neither explains how the property came to be represented as state land, or who made that representation. No response from Perera or his counsel to the substance of the allegation is reported, beyond the application for bail.
Corroborated — two verified newsrooms. The Daily Mirror and Hiru News agree on the arrest, the arresting body and the individual. The Daily Mirror carries the arrest alone in a single sentence; Hiru alone carries the bail order, the magistrate, the figures, the Ampara location and the names of counsel. NewsFirst’s rail had not carried the story at the time of writing, and Ada Derana has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for some 48 consecutive days.