The Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) has arrested Sugeeshwara Bandara, who served as private secretary to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in connection with allegations that he drew salaries from two government institutions simultaneously.
Police said the New People’s Front leader had received a salary as Presidential Private Secretary during Rajapaksa’s term while concurrently drawing a second salary in his capacity as a Project Director at another government institution. Investigators are examining how the parallel appointments were sanctioned and over what period payments were made.
The arrest was carried out by the Colombo CCIB and falls under an active probe into alleged irregularities involving public funds and government salaries. Further investigations are continuing.
Bandara is a familiar figure in opposition politics. He was summoned by Talangama Police in late May over an alleged feces attack during a April 28 demonstration outside Treasury Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma’s residence, part of a wider wave of opposition protests over the US$2.5 million Treasury cyber heist.
The latest case adds another former Rajapaksa-era figure to the accountability roster currently being processed by Sri Lanka’s investigative agencies. The list includes the bribery probe that this week led to the arrest and bail of Yoshitha Rajapaksa over an irregular naval appointment, and the ongoing Court of Appeal hearing on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s petition seeking to prevent his arrest over the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks investigation.
Update — June 18 evening: Bandara remanded to July 1
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday evening remanded Bandara until July 1, hours after his arrest in the Kollupitiya area. Ada Derana reported that the case originated in a complaint forwarded to the CCIB by the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry concerning alleged financial irregularities under the President’s Expenditure Head.
Police said investigations established that Bandara had served as private secretary to President Rajapaksa in 2022 while concurrently holding the position of Project Director at the Presidential Secretariat. Both positions, the CCIB alleges, drew salaries from the same expenditure head. The Police Media Division added that further inquiries were under way into allegations of misuse of government vehicles and the use of state employees for political activities during the period.
Sources: Sugeeshwara Bandara remanded — Ada Derana, June 18 · Ex Sri Lanka President Gota’s Former Secretary Remanded In Dual Salary Scandal — NewsFirst, June 18 · Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s former private secretary Sugeeshwara Bandara remanded until July 1 — Newswire, June 18.
