COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s prison chief was remanded in custody Tuesday in connection with the illegal release of a convicted financial fraudster under the guise of an amnesty for minor offenders.
Commissioner-General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya was arrested late Monday by the Criminal Investigations Department, over the release of fraud convict Athula Thilakaratne.
The government suspended Upuldeniya following reports the convict’s name was smuggled into a list of nearly 400 minor offenders who were granted a presidential amnesty last month.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Rathnayake ordered Upuldeniya be held in custody until Wednesday, pending a criminal investigation.
“It was decided to suspend the Commissioner-General until the investigations are concluded,“ the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office ordered the police investigation last week after the release of Thilakaratne.
He was serving a six-month sentence over a financial scam and is also facing 30 other fraud cases.
Police have launched a manhunt for Thilakaratne, who went missing after his unlawful release from prison was reported in the local media.
A presidential amnesty was granted to 388 inmates last month to mark Vesak, the most important Buddhist festival on the island.
Thilakaratne “was not among those approved by the president to receive a pardon”, Dissanayake’s office said.
The president told a public rally last week that corruption was rife in prisons and called for a major clean-up.
He also warned officials to improve or face the sack.
