The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption arrested the former Secretary to the Ministry of Co-operative and Internal Trade on Monday over the purchase of chairs for a state theatre, and a Colombo magistrate granted him bail the same afternoon.

Gamini Kithsiri Dias Amarawardena was taken into custody by CIABOC investigating officers on Monday, the Daily Mirror reported at 4.01 p.m. and Hiru News reported at 4.14 p.m. Colombo time.

The allegation

The charge concerns the procurement of chairs for the Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre at Polgolla, Kandy.

Both outlets give the same account: a qualified private company submitted the lowest bid while meeting the required standards, that bid was rejected, and the chairs were bought from another supplier instead. CIABOC alleges the decision conferred an improper benefit on an external party and caused the government a financial loss of Rs 7,973,114.50, which it treats as an offence of corruption.

Bail, and a travel ban

Colombo Additional Magistrate Lahiru Silva ordered Amarawardena released on bail on Monday, Hiru News reported at 4.53 p.m., after hearing submissions made on behalf of the commission.

He was released on two personal bonds of Rs 2.5 million each. The magistrate also barred him from travelling abroad.

The Daily Mirror, filing before the hearing, reported that he was due to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court; Hiru’s later report places the hearing before an additional magistrate of the same court.

A former official, not a serving one

Amarawardena is a former secretary of the ministry, not the incumbent. Hiru’s Sinhala reports state this in both filings — the second abbreviates it to “හි. ලේකම්” — and the Daily Mirror’s headline says the same. An English-language summary of the second filing dropped the qualifier and described him as the sitting Trade Ministry secretary, which is wrong.

The two outlets also differ slightly on the ministry’s name and the spelling of the suspect’s name: the Daily Mirror gives “Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade” and “Gamini Kitsiri Dias Amarawardhana”, while Hiru’s Sinhala gives the ministry as සමුපකාර හා අභ්‍යන්තර වෙළෙඳ අමාත්‍යාංශය. The figures, the allegation and the venue match exactly across both.