The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested the sitting General Manager of Lanka Salt Limited on Friday over a packaging procurement deal that allegedly cost the government roughly Rs. 14.3 million.
The Bribery Commission named the suspect as Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Gunaratne, the current head of the state-owned salt manufacturer. According to investigators, Gunaratne authorised a re-order for “Lak Lunu” branded salt packaging supplied to the Hambantota Salt Company without following the formal procurement process, conferring an undue advantage on the supplier and causing a loss to the state.
The suspect is scheduled to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. CIABOC has not yet disclosed whether the supplier company is being investigated separately or whether additional Lanka Salt officials face arrest.
NewsFirst, which independently confirmed the arrest, said Gunaratne was taken into custody when he arrived at the Bribery Commission to provide a statement. It described the case as a back-order procurement of packaging materials that bypassed the proper procurement procedure.
The arrest extends a widening anti-corruption sweep at state enterprises and the upper civil service since the National People’s Power government took office. In recent weeks alone, CIABOC has detained former Gotabaya Rajapaksa private secretary Sugeeshwara Bandara over a parallel-salary allegation and Yoshitha Rajapaksa over his 2006 navy commissioning. Lanka Salt’s arrest marks the first targeting of a sitting state-enterprise GM in the current sweep.
Lanka Salt Limited operates production facilities in Puttalam and is the country’s largest state-sector salt producer. The Hambantota Salt Company is a separate state-affiliated salt operation that procures packaging through Lanka Salt’s procurement arm.
Update — June 19: GM granted bail
The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court later in the day ordered Gunaratne released on bail. He was produced before Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama and granted release on two personal sureties of Rs. 5 million each, NewsFirst reported. The court imposed a foreign travel ban and directed that his passport be surrendered.
Investigators told the court the Hambantota Salt Company packaging back-order had bypassed the proper procurement procedure and caused a loss to the state of approximately Rs. 14.3 million.
Sources: Ada Derana, Newswire, NewsFirst, Ada Derana — bail, NewsFirst — bail.
