Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived at the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) on Monday to give a statement in the investigation into his former private secretary, Sugeeshwara Bandara, the Daily Mirror reported.

Bandara, who is also the leader of the New People’s Front, is currently in remand custody.

The bureau summoned the former president to record a statement for further investigations into the case, Hiru News reported. Hiru’s filing is the one that specifies the allegation: that Bandara, who served as Rajapaksa’s personal secretary during his presidency, misused state funds by drawing salaries from two state institutions simultaneously.

The two accounts agree on the location, the date, the purpose of the visit and Bandara’s remand status. Hiru alone reports that the appearance followed a summons rather than a voluntary approach, and Hiru alone states the substance of the allegation.

The case being investigated

Bandara was arrested by the CCIB on 18 June over allegations that he drew two government salaries at once — one as Presidential Private Secretary during Rajapaksa’s term, and a second as a Project Director at another government institution.

Investigators were at that point examining how the parallel appointments were sanctioned and over what period the payments were made. Those two questions are the likely reason a statement from the former president is being sought: the appointments in question were made within his own office.

Bandara is a recurring figure in opposition politics. He was separately summoned by Talangama Police in late May over an alleged attack during an April demonstration outside the Treasury Secretary’s residence.

What neither newsroom reports

Neither filing says what Rajapaksa was asked or what he said. Neither reports how long he remained at the bureau, whether he was accompanied by counsel, or whether he is being treated as a witness rather than a suspect — a distinction neither report draws either way.

Neither gives the period over which the two salaries were allegedly drawn, the sums involved, or the name of the second institution. Neither says when Bandara is next due in court, or whether any charges have been filed against him since his arrest.

No statement from Rajapaksa’s office, the CCIB or the New People’s Front appears in either report.