Ex-Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s elder son indicted for alleged misappropriation

Colombo: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s elder son has been indicted in the High Court here for alleged misappropriation from an Indian investment prior to 2015.

Namal Rajapaksa, 38, had been arrested in June 2016 for the alleged misuse of 70 million Sri Lankan rupees from the Krish hotel project money to develop the game of rugby, for which he had been a Sri Lanka international player.

The Krish hotel project located in the heart of Colombo commercial district was aborted and the unfinished construction remains. Recently its unsafe status was questioned in another court for the danger posed to passersby.

Namal Rajapaksa was quizzed recently by the police after the Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led National People’s Power (NPP) government revived the Krish case – stalled since 2016.

A week later, his younger brother Yoshitha was arrested in the revival of a similar questionable property case. He was released on bail on Monday.

Namal Rajapaksa having learnt of his indictment posted on X “it is evident that the present government has launched a political witch hunt against the Rajapaksa family”.

Mahinda Rajapaksa in recent weeks has faced government ire as he had failed to vacate his official residence. The government accused the senior Rajapaksa of enjoying benefits at taxpayers expense.

He has already filed a plea in the Supreme Court to reverse the government’s action to drastically reduce his personal protection.

The opposition maintains that former presidents are constitutionally entitled to retirement benefits.