Sri Lanka Opposition Leader Namal Rajapaksa Arrested Over Corruption Allegations

Namal Rajapaksa, the elder son of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested by the country's Anti-Corruption Commission over alleged corruption involving the purchase of Airbus planes for SriLankan Airlines. Namal Rajapaksa, 40, was asked to appear before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Friday. He was arrested after more than five hours of questioning by the Anti-Corruption Commission. He was later produced before Magistrate Asanga S. Boderagama. Officials said the Colombo magistrate remanded him until September 18. Namal Rajapaksa, the leader of the opposition party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), was questioned based on information that he had benefited from the purchase of large-sized Airbus planes for SriLankan Airlines during his father's presidency. ID1 dollars were deposited in two different accounts of the then-current People's Power Bank before the Rajapaksa government came to power.