Overview

• Rajitha Senaratne surrendered after about two months evading authorities and was ordered to face multiple cases in a lower court.
• A magistrate remanded Senaratne until September 9 over allegations he illegally awarded a public contract to a foreign firm, with investigators citing a state loss of about $83,000.
• Former parliamentarian and Buddhist monk Athuraliye Rathana also surrendered and was remanded until September 12 in a probe linked to an alleged 2020 abduction.
• Police reports say the abduction complaint was filed by monk Vedinigama Wimalathissa, who alleged he was pressured to sign documents related to Rathana’s bid for a parliamentary seat.
• The latest detentions follow last week’s arrest of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe over an alleged $55,000 misuse of state funds for a UK stopover, for which he was granted bail on Tuesday.