Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahuman raised the death of Treasury Deputy Director Ranga Nishantha — also known as Ranga Rajapaksa — in Parliament on May 6 and called for the investigation to be handed to Scotland Yard.

Rahuman alleged that conflicting statements by authorities had undermined public trust in the inquiry. He challenged the police conclusion of suicide, saying the deceased had sustained severe cut injuries and that the manner of death remained unresolved.

“It is the responsibility of Judicial Medical Officers to determine the cause of death. They cannot determine how the death occurred,” Rahuman told the House. “They can only state the cause of death. The manner of death must be determined by the coroner. That is where the suspicion lies.”

The MP also questioned procedural restrictions on parliamentary scrutiny, alleging the time allocated for debate had been curtailed. “When we requested a two-hour debate, only one and a half hours was granted. Is this an attempt to suppress discussion and conceal the truth?” he asked.

Rahuman cited an Anuradhapura case in which a death initially attributed to a snakebite was later found to be murder, with investigators concluding a snake had been placed on the victim’s bed to mislead police.

In the same session, Rahuman also drew a parallel between the NPP’s Treasury Secretary appointment and the Rajapaksa-era CBSL Governor controversy, framing both as examples of political interference in independent economic institutions.

The Scotland Yard demand is the first formal call to internationalise the inquiry into the death of the Treasury official, who had been suspended over the USD 2.5 million Treasury cyber heist. It follows attorney Shiral Lakthilake’s call for a psychological autopsy on May 2 and Udaya Gammanpila’s separate questions about the post-mortem process.

A four-Judicial Medical Consultant panel earlier ruled all injuries on Rajapaksa’s body were self-inflicted at his Kuliyapitiya home on April 30. Police have separately summoned Gammanpila over false-claim allegations tied to his commentary on the case.

Source: The Island.