Former SLPP Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Daya Pushpa Kumara Battage was remanded until May 19 over allegations of causing more than Rs. 40 million in losses to the State, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said on Friday.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Liyan Werasawithana issued the remand order on Thursday following a CIABOC application. The Bribery Commission said Battage was arrested after investigations into four corruption-related allegations.
Officials told the court that Battage — a Kamburugamuwa resident and a known political activist — had allegedly caused the financial loss while serving as a government official, and had obtained personal benefits in the process. CIABOC requested that the suspect be remanded as further investigations are continuing.
Battage was further remanded until June 2 when the case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama on May 19, NewsFirst reported. Investigators told court the alleged loss now stands at more than Rs. 39.6 million across four counts. The schedule includes selling a parcel of land originally purchased for Rs. 1 million to the Pradeshiya Sabha for Rs. 9.4 million after six years; transferring a 202-perch parcel reserved for the Pradeshiya Sabha to a relative for as little as Rs. 200,000; processing a state-owned land for Sabha acquisition that paid Rs. 4 million to a deed holder but was never acquired; and launching an exercise-books supply project for low-income students without proper approval, leaving more than 40,000 books in Sabha custody after the project was abandoned. Investigators also told court that Battage had allegedly threatened the former Sabha Secretary in connection with a Bribery Commission statement. The Magistrate, noting that investigations were not yet complete, rejected the defence’s bail application and ordered the suspect remanded. NewsFirst identified Battage as a current member of the Sarwa Jana Balaya party.
The remand follows a wider sweep of CIABOC arrests at the local-government tier in recent days, including the Kurunegala Deputy Mayor’s arrest in Battaramulla over an alleged Rs. 3 million tender bribe and earlier refilings against former CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal under Section 67(5) of the Anti-Corruption Act. Pradeshiya Sabhas — Sri Lanka’s third tier of local government — handle public works, sanitation and licensing, with chairmen wielding direct procurement authority over often-significant contracts.
