The Kuliyapitiya Magistrate’s Court on Friday ordered police to expedite further investigations into the death of Ranga Rajapaksa, former Assistant Director of the External Resources Department at the Ministry of Finance, and to submit a comprehensive report to the court, Ada Derana reported.
Magistrate Mihil Chiranthana Satharasinghe postponed the pronouncement of the verdict in the magisterial inquiry into the death until July 31, 2026. Rajapaksa had been suspended from service at the time of his death after being implicated in the alleged transfer of US$2.5 million belonging to the Ministry of Finance to a third party — funds that were part of a bilateral debt repayment owed to Australia and originally due to be settled in September 2025.
The Friday order is a procedural step forward from the June 3 Judicial Medical Consultants’ testimony, at which a four-member JMC panel chaired by Dr. Ilangaratne Banda told the same magistrate that Rajapaksa’s death was caused by self-inflicted cuts and excessive blood loss. Senior Deputy Inspector General Ajith Rohana led the police side at that hearing and asked the court to take the pending Government Analyst’s report into account under Section 30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Friday’s order does not overturn the JMC opinion but signals the court is waiting on additional police material before issuing a formal cause-of-death verdict.
Rajapaksa was found dead at his Kuliyapitiya residence on April 30, weeks after he was interdicted in connection with the alleged Treasury cyber theft that misdirected the Australia-bound bilateral debt repayment. Police announced shortly afterwards that initial findings pointed to suicide, but opposition figures including former MP Udaya Gammanpila have publicly contested that conclusion, alleging the death may be linked to whistleblowing on the underlying scam. The CID has separately confirmed it recorded 42 statements as part of the cyber-fraud probe, with forensic findings due on July 8 — three weeks before the Kuliyapitiya verdict is now scheduled.
